THORNEY-ABBEY, (Cambridgeshire) among the fens, to the N. W. of Ely, was of old called Ankeridge, from the anchorets mon.
there, with cells of hermits, which the Danes destroyed; but it was rebuilt by Ethelwold Bp. of Winchester, and furnished
with monks, whose abbot was mitered, tho' the poorest that was so in England. William of Malmsbury, who wrote above 1200
years ago, says, that Bedford-Level, in which this abbey is situate, though since overflowed by the sea, was in his time
the very picture of paradise, with tall trees, verdant greens, richly interspersed with orchards and vineyards, and fine
buildings.