As well as Shrewsbury Abbey being a practicing, Anglican church, it’s also filled with historical facts and evidence from the past. In the 1980s, the Abbey was restored to its original form, including a herb garden, which would’ve been used by monks for spiritual, medicinal and culinary use. The most famous link with Shrewsbury Abbey is Brother Cadfael, a fictional character in murder mysteries by Edith Pargeter. Cadfael was a herbalist Benedictine monk, which the herb garden was based on, and opened by the author.