averley was the first Cistercian abbey in Britain and was founded by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester (1107-29) in late 1128, and built on a flood plain of the River Wey a couple of miles to the south east of Farnham in Surrey. Twelve monks from the abbey of Aumone in Normandy were give two acres of land for the purpose of building a new monastery and permission of cut trees from the nearby forest. Gifford's successor, Henry of Blois, the younger brother of King Stephen of England, also donated land to help support the monks. Other benefactors included, Adeliza, the second wife of King Henry I of England who granted the grange of Northolt, King Stephen who donated Netham near Alton and the church of Farnham. Faramus of Boulogne, the nephew of King Stephen sold the manor of Wanborough to the abbey in exchange for one hundred and twenty five marks of silver. In 1147 Pope Eugenius confirmed all of donations and grants via a papul bull and exempted the abbey from paying certain taxes. The buildings were at constant risk from flooding and repair work was required in the 13th century. The abbey was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King Henry VIII in 1536. Very little of the abbey remains today as the stone were carried away to be used in other buildings, but the site is open to the public free of charge.