Pale-coloured tree close to abbey (4)
I believe the answer is:
ashy
'pale' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'coloured tree close to abbey' is the wordplay.
'coloured tree' becomes 'ash' (ash is a kind of tree. I am not sure about the 'coloured' bit.).
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close of something is the end).
The final letter of 'abbey' is 'y'.
'ash'+'y'='ASHY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ashy that I've seen before include "Like, eg, volcanic dust" , "Like burnt residue" , "Cinders must have been this" , "evidence of recent fire" , "like a cinder track?" .)