St Agnes Abbey was home to a sisterhood of nuns under the control of one of the Gorgons, who inhabited the body of the Abbess. It contained a garden of stone statues which had formerly been humans transformed by the Gorgon, secret passageways constructed during the Protestant Reformation, and a portal leading to the Gorgon Homeworld. Sarah Jane Smith defeated the Gorgon and freed the nuns from her influence.
Originally, the Abbey was built as a private house in the 16th century. (TV: Eye of the Gorgon) At the time of the Reformation, King Henry VIII declared himself as the head of the English church. His daughter Elizabeth I later persecuted priests and followers of the Catholic Church. However, the Catholics built secret rooms and passages in their houses so that the priests could hold their services in secret and escape. That was why the St Agnes Abbey also had some secret passages. (PROSE: Eye of the Gorgon)
