Bernard of Clairvaux founded the abbey in 1118 in a Burgundy valley, and the monks moved in 1130. Pope Eugene III consecrated the church in 1147, with funding from the Bishop of Norwich. The complex was complete by 1200 and could house up to 300 monks. It was pillaged in 1359 during the Hundred Years' War.
The style is Romanesque. The church has a Latin cross plan, with a nave 217 feet (66 m) long and 26 feet (8 m) wide and a transept 62 feet (19 m) long. The cloister measures 118 by 125 feet (36 by 38 m) with vaulted galleries. The church has no bell tower, and small bells hung by the door.
The so-called forge, 175 by 44 feet (53.3 by 13.5 m), was likely a brewery or bakehouse. The refectory, destroyed in 1745, is the only major loss. In 1791 the Montgolfier brothers turned the abbey into a paper mill. UNESCO inscribed it in 1981.
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