In consequence of the growing importance of the town, the road was probably diverted to its present line.
Although in pre-Reformation days the abbey dominated the town and the abbot's will was practically law to the inhabitants, yet the townsmen on the whole lived quite apart, doing their own work, managing their own affairs, and enjoying themselves in their own way.

The monastery, too, was complete in itself, having its own staff of servants and needing little, if any, outside help.

The precincts of the abbey were as entirely shut in with their high wall and strong gates, all fortified in the Edwardian times, as any castle; and little of what went on in this self-contained society would be known to the people living without.

It must be remembered also that the townsmen had their own church, that of All Saints, and only on special occasions would they be allowed entrance to the great church belonging to the monks.
It would seem that the second church, dedicated to St.Lawrence, was principally used by pilgrims, and this was connected with the monastic buildings by a covered walk of stone.
To Edward the Confessor we learn the town owed certain rights connected with its market, and during the Middle Ages it was an important centre for the trade of the district.

On account of this market, and from the fact that the greater part of the abbey lands lay on the left bank of the river, it would seem probable that a bridge of some kind was built quite early in the Middle Ages, if not before.