Over the next few days the whole country, the whole Commonwealth, and an awful lot of people in other countries round the world will all be celebrating the diamond jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. Across her sixty year reign she has been served by thirteen Prime Ministers, and seen eleven American presidents. Her length of reign is exceeded only by Queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years and 216 days.

But having established those hugely impressive statistics, you can't help wondering how many monarchs Combermere Abbey has seen come and go. Want to guess? Well, the Abbey was first established in 1133, 879 years ago, in the reign of Henry I - the third son of William the Conqueror - was was on the throne for thirty five years. His reign was followed by the disastrous rule of King Stephen, during which the country was in a state of perpetual civil war. The house of Angevin followed, which brought stability to the kingdom, and they in turn were followed by the (mostly) great Plantagenets.

There have been seven dynasties since then, all linked in some way of other and creating Britain's great sense of continuity and political stability. Some of these monarchs were greater than others, and are better known nowadays, while one or two others (mentioning no names, but thinking of William III and William IV) made less of a mark. The House Of Windsor came into being under Edward VII, who agreed to a wise recommendation to change his surname from the overly-German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

So, back to the question; how many monarchs have in fact sat on the throne while Combermere Abbey has watched on silently from a far corner of the realm? Thirty nine; that's the astonishing answer. And it's that long passage of time which has given the Abbey and its surroundings the uniquely English maturity which can be felt and enjoyed today. It's a national treasure of great worth, just like our monarchy.