Founded in 1146, the ruins of a Cistercian abbey in Sawley can be visited today. English Heritage said: “Sawley Abbey was founded in 1146 on land given by William, third Lord Percy. In 1296 Stanlaw Abbey in Cheshire was refounded at Whalley, nine miles from Sawley, and the two Cistercian houses immediately quarrelled. However, that autumn, during the northern rising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, the abbey was restored under a new abbot, William Trafford. In 1848 the first archaeological investigation of the ruins was undertaken, and during the 20th century the site was taken into the care of the state, cleared of debris and conserved.”Is Sawley Abbey worth visiting?