When the Brigittine nuns and priests of Syon Abbey received their copies of The Orcharde of Syon in 1519, their world on the bank of the River Thames was nearing its end. Founded by Henry V in 1415, Syon Abbey took its name from the Holy Mount, and the community had thrived for more than 100 years. Only 20 years later, Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and, together with other monastic communities in England, the Syon residents were forced to leave. Syon Abbey’s suppression in 1539 was described by chronicler Charles Wriothesley who wrote that on “the 25th daie of November the howse of Sion was suppressed into the Kinges handes, and the ladies and brethren putt out, which was the vertues howse of religion that was in England, the landes and goodes to the Kinges use”.