 The Anglo-Saxon poem known as The Ruin may describe the appearance of the Roman site about this time.King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter.By the 9th century the old Roman street pattern had been lost, and Bath had become a royal possession; King Alfred laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct.