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Bath Abbey stands at the heart of the city of Bath; during the past twelve and a half centuries, three different churches have occupied this site: An Anglo-Saxon Abbey Church dating from 757, pulled down by the Norman conquerors of England soon after 1066; A massive Norman cathedral begun about 1090. It was larger than the monastery could afford to maintain and by the end of the 15th century was in ruins; The present Abbey church founded in 1499, ruined after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 by order of Henry VIII. It was restored and has been supported ever since by successive generations of those whose church it has been and by other benefactors. The Bath Abbey 2000 campaign of restoration and conservation has continued that tradition. Bath Abbey is now an active parish church in the Church of England. In 1999 it celebrated its five hundredth anniversary. The West Front Begun in 1499, Bath Abbey is the last of the great medieval churches of England. The West Front is unique. It depicts the dream that inspired the Abbey's founder, Bishop Oliver King, to pull down the ruined Norman cathedral and raise the present building on its foundations. The cleaning of the West Front was the first of the Bath Abbey 2000 projects to be completed.