The Dissolution of The In the north eastern corner of the nave the stone coffin lid of Mabli’s coffin was found, carved in the 13th Henry VIII of England sent Commissioners to every century style. It can now be seen in the Parish Church. Abbey enquiring into income and property. As the Because of the vigorous clearance and the lack of HISTORY of the income of Cwmhir then was far less than £100 pa it records the location of the Abbot’s house, the ’ ABBEY at was amongst the early Abbeys to be dissolved - in March domestic buildings such as the refectory and the 1537. chapter house can only be inferred. Pieces of creamy ABBEY coloured carved sandstone can be seen in local The Abbey had possessed a ‘famed picture of Jesus’ Churches and were used in many other buildings. which attracted pilgrims to the Abbey and this was The Remains (Further info. in the Trust’s “Stone Trail“ leaflet). transferred to Strata Florida Abbey but disappeared Cwmhir means Long Valley and the remains of during the Dissolution. The Abbey was taken into the Abbey lie on the bank of the Clywedog private ownership and passed through 5 transactions Brook. The nave of the Abbey Church was 74.5m until 1565 when Queen Elizabeth I of England granted a long - the longest in Britain and Europe at the licence for the transfer of Abbey lands to William time! Fowler of Harnage Grange, Shropshire, in whose family the estate remained for 266 years.

The Estate in the 19th Century Thomas Wilson purchased the estate in 1824 and proceeded to clear the interior of the Abbey ruins down to the ground level to obtain stone and make a park for his new Hall completed about 1830. He made many improvements to the Estate, building roads and bridges, rebuilding farmhouses and also renovated the Chapel, built by the Fowlers in 1830. The best remains of the Abbey Church are in where 5 arches from the Abbey nave were used to Francis Phillips acquired the estate in 1837 and The Cistercian Order of Monks embarked on a programme of improvement, enlarge the Parish Church in 1542. If you look carefully encouraging modern farming methods. Mary you can see where the masons didn’t fit the blocks The Abbey was built by Monks of the Cister- cian Order and its situation is typical of their sites Beatrice sister of the Squire, George Henry Philips, together smoothly despite the masons marks. rebuilt the village Church in 1865/6 At the same in a valley next to water. The Clywedog Brook time the Hall was renovated and enlarged in the We hope you have enjoyed your visit and this peep enabled the Monks to run a mill and its little tribu- Gothic Revival Style seen today. into the history of the Abbey at Cwmhir. tary, the Poeth, whose hot water by Abbey Cwmhir never freezes, provided water for The Last Remains th e domestic quarters. When Thomas cleared the ruins The Cistercian Order would ob- down to the ground human bones Ty’r Abbey tain grants of land were discovered, together with LD1 they improved by the latest methods ironwork, painted glass, papal seals Tel: 01597 851021 of agriculture. They were great and coins of Edward II. A carved head breeders of sheep, cattle and in the style of the 12th century was horses. They looked after the sick later found at Ty Faenor where much of the stone had been re-used. and injured, gave to the The head can now be seen in The shelter to travellers. They benefitted Museum in Llandrindod the area economically and spiritually. Wells and a digital reproduction in Right: St Bernard of Clairevaux Ab- the Exhibition Room at the Abbey. It may be bey (1090-1143) - inspirer of the evidence of an earlier 12th Century monastic Cistercian Order’s expansion. church.

Our Abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary as History of the Abbey Between 1259 and 1263 there is evidence that the were all Cistercian Abbeys and was intended for 60 Welsh history chronicle Annales Cambriae was written monks plus lay brothers who did much of the manual Cadwallon, the founder (in 1176), was killed in 1179 by a scribe at Cwmhir. The Cistercian Houses work. Everything eaten and used by the Monks was by the Mortimers who progressively took back the usually supported Welsh rulers if possible and in produced on Abbey lands. The Choir Monks area including the patronage of the Abbey. The 1274, the Abbot of Cwmhir and 6 other Welsh performed the ‘Ora’ of prayer and psalm chanting Mortimers were generous to the Abbey as long as the Cistercian Superiors appealed to the Pope in an eight times a day and organised the work of the Monks supported them and not the Welsh Princes. attempt to prevent the excommunication of Monastery. Trade in agricultural surpluses was an In 1214 King John of England took all Cistercian , Llywelyn Fawr’s grandson, important part of their income to support their Abbeys and lands under his protection, granting freedom who was defending against Edward I of charitable work. from tolls for their goods. England.

Afte r betrayal and execution near Builth at the Probable site In 1227 Llywelyn Fawr re-established Welsh control hands of the Mortimers in 1282, his head was sent to of Cellarium over and may have begun to rebuild the London to be exhibited at Probable site the Tower but it is of Chapter (store) & Abbey Church, a cathedral like monument in the heart House & Day Dormitory of of Wales. Today the remains of the Abbey Church believed that the Monks of Room with- Lay Brothers. show the outlines of the nave and the aisles and the Cwmhir took his body Dormitory of west walls of the transepts. There were 14 arches of and buried it in Cwmhir and even dismembered it Choir Monks Cloister finely carved sandstone on both sides of the nave. above. The grand taken years to further, as was the Garth complete. custom at that time, so that it could be distributed elsewhere. Eclesiastical East End Altar Choir West The modern memorial where the End stone, the Carreg Goffa, was placed by the chancel Archdruid of Wales in 1978. would have Arches moved Entrance now been. to St. Idloes through Home Farm & The Marcher Lords and the English Crown penalised The Foundation of the Interpretation merchants by taxes and tolls on the goods which had to be transported through their lands but in 1318 Abbey in Cwmhir Centre. Edward II of England confirmed the grants of The earliest Cistercian history gives 2 founding dates: Head of Cadwallon and Charter of freedom from tolls bestowed on by his predecessors, John and Henry. 1143 under Maredudd ap Madog and 1176 when his Roger Mortimer to Cwmhir of 1200.

brother, Cadwallon ap Madog was King. From 1144 During Owain Glyndwr’s War of Independence In 1231 during the war between Henry III of England and the Anglo Norman Mortimer family of Wigmore was unable to give open support Llywelyn Fawr, monks from an Abbey Grange were occupied Maelienydd until the Welsh from South because of Mortimer patronage and it is reported accused of misdirecting Henry’s army into a marsh where Wales under the Lord Rhys expelled them in 1175. that Abbey buildings were ‘spoiled and defaced’ by the knights’ horses became bogged down in the mud and Glyndwr’s men. Glyndwr and his forces camped at the The Monks came to found Cwmhir from Whitland were ambushed. Henry in revenge burnt the Grange Grange west of before their victorious battle Abbey along an ancient track across the Cambrian buildings; the Abbey itself was only saved by paying a at Bryn Glas. Mountains, now often called the ‘Monks Trod’. fine of 300 marks - a huge amount at that time. But in 1232

The first wooden buildings may have been Henry issued a new Writ of Protection to the Abbey, on After Owain defeated him at the Battle of Bryn Glas. replaced with stone in the 12th century with a smaller condition that “nothing the monks buy or sell gets into the hands of our enemies”. was held hostage and subse- Church. The stone for the walls came from Fowler’s quently became one of his chief supporters and Cave, the quarry of Yr Allt Ordovician stone on top of It is possible that the wonderful building was never married his daughter, Catrin. On the accession of the nearby hill but the yellow sandstone for the carved completed because of lack of money but this has yet to be Edward IV (Edmund’s nephew) to the English frames of doors and the from further confirmed. throne the Abbey became Crown property. away.