] What do you think an Abbey was supposed to look like/contain in those days? Should it have been situated very low, or should it have been on a high prominence? should it have been a mouldering old ruin, or should it have been spruced up and made habitable?

Actually, it could have been any or all of those things, because it really wasn't an abbey at all. When King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church, all church property was seized, and this of course included convents and abbeys. The orders which had lived on these properties (some of which were VERY rich) were also broken up.

The valuable land and buildings in many cases passed into private hands. Buildings were sometimes reconstructed to meet the needs of their new secular owners, but more often allowed to fall into disrepair and/or demolished so the building materials could be reused.

Even though they were no longer church property, the original names frequently "stuck," and to this day there are many private estates in Britain which contain the word "abbey" in their names.