Whalley Abbey Gatehouse in Whalley, England

Per Atlas Obscura, Whalley Abbey Gatehouse stands in Northwest England as a two-story medieval structure built in thirteen ninety-six as part of a Cistercian monastery. The gatehouse served as the monastery's main connection to the outside world, where monks provided food and assistance to travelers and beggars. When Henry the Eighth dissolved the monasteries, the site was eventually sold and incorporated into a private estate in fifteen fifty-three. Today, English Heritage maintains the Grade One Listed Building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, but it's so woven into village life that locals routinely pass through on their way between Whalley's center and the western neighborhoods — very few tourists ever stop to admire it.

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