But when the Abbey's doors opened, 3, 000 uniformed men and women poured down the aisles.
Health Minister David Lammy said cases like Abbey's highlighted the importance of carrying a donor card.
The paths and trails in the abbey's estate are a lovely setting for a run, with great views.
The wholesale bank will continue to bleed into Abbey's results for some time.
Either suitor may yet return with a higher offer to tempt Abbey's shareholders.
In the last 30 years, he has dubbed everyone from John Malkovich and Harrison Ford to Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville.
The street names of Spring Gardens (near Trafalgar Square) and Millbank (where the Abbey's mill once stood) echo Westminster's watery past.
An ancient manuscript documenting part of Reading Abbey's history dating back to the 14th Century is being displayed publicly for the first time.
BBC: Medieval Reading Abbey manuscript goes on public display
Melanie Bien, an advisor from Savills Private Finance, told BBC Breakfast she believed other banks may follow Abbey's lead in warning customers about excessive borrowing.
The agency is also investing in new interpretation and visitor facilities to help visitors fully appreciate Iona Abbey's fascinating history and the significance of the spectacular carved stone collection.
By 960 AD, the church had become a Benedictine monastery, and the Abbey's black-robed monks were familiar figures at Westminster for almost 600 years, until Henry VIII split from Rome.
As part of the restoration, the abbey's top floor is being made into a gallery which will display items relating to its 800-year history, with new learning spaces created for educational groups to use.
He said this was odd because the man must have come from a wealthy, important family to have been buried in a place that was the equivalent of London's Westminster Abbey or St Paul's Cathedral.
Rolls, whose company Trade Recruitment sponsor the side's Abbey Stadium ground, has been a director at the U's since November 2007.
For example Abbey National's Cahoot and Halifax's IF are offering 5.9% and 5.01% respectively.
The picture shows the band members walking in single file on a zebra crossing in north London's Abbey Road.
The portrait, created by Manchester artist Ed Chapman, will be unveiled at a charity event at London's Abbey Road Studios.
Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram made the announcement during a visit to the MoD's Abbey Wood in north Bristol on Monday.
Sarah Friswell, of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, said he could be found in a former monks' graveyard beneath tennis courts in the town's Abbey Gardens.
They have already mixed two tracks at London's Abbey Road studios.
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Originally produced in 1936 by Ireland's Abbey Theatre, the irony-filled play was a protest against the proprietary and even violent attitudes prevalent toward women in Ireland.
But when the book was published in the United States by the Liturgical Press of St John's Abbey in Minnesota the local bishop, with the support of Rome, demanded its withdrawal.
He said he had been asked to create the piece for an electronic music festival, and asked the other band members to be "indulgent" for 10 minutes at London's Abbey Road studios before giving them vague directions.
St Mary's Magherafelt will face St Pat's Armagh while Abbey CBS will play 2004 winners St Pat's Dungannon.
BBC: SPORT | Northern Ireland | Gaelic Games | Mourne rivals face MacRory clash
"It's very disappointing as the Abbey quarter should be a jewel in Reading's crown, " he said of the funding refusal.
BBC: Reading Abbey revamp misses out on lottery funding again
For a rich, flavourful pint, try Wedge's Belgian Abbey Ale, a bit nutty with some caramel hints.
Plans to transform Reading's historic Abbey Quarter have been turned down for lottery funding.
BBC: Reading Abbey Quarter revamp misses out on lottery cash
Plans to transform Reading's historic Abbey Quarter have been turned down for lottery funding for a second time.
BBC: Reading Abbey revamp misses out on lottery funding again
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