Strata Florida Abbey
Encyclopedia
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid
Pontrhydfendigaid
Pontrhydfendigaid is a village in Ceredigion, Wales, lying on the River Teifi.It is known for the ruins of the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey, founded 1164, where Dafydd ap Gwilym is said to be buried and Llywelyn the Great held a council....
, near Tregaron
Tregaron
Tregaron is a market town in the county of Ceredigion, Wales, lying on the River Brenig , a tributary of the River Teifi. The town is twinned with Plouvien, in Finistere, France. According to the 2001 Census, Tregaron's population was 1,183, of whom 68.8% spoke Welsh fluently.-History:Tregaron...
in the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Ceredigion
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The abbey was originally founded in 1164. The name Strata Florida is a corruption of the Welsh Ystrad Fflur, meaning Valley of (the river of) Flowers. Ystrad corrupts into Strata, while Fflur (flowers) is the name of the nearby river.
After the region around St. David's was firmly occupied by the Norman Marcher lordship of Pembroke by the early 12th century, with St. David's firmly under Norman influence thereafter, the princely Dinefwr family of Deheubarth transferred their patronage to Strata Florida, interring many of their family members there.
Present-day remains
Lying mostly in ruins, there is a variety of remains in the area. The Abbey Church monument is in the care of CadwCadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
. Next to the remains of the church is the graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
, which is still active to this day, with many people choosing to be buried there. It is traditionally the burial place of the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym
Dafydd ap Gwilym
Dafydd ap Gwilym , is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd ap Gwilym (c. 1315/1320 – c. 1350/1370), is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd ap Gwilym...
, and a memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
to him is to be found on the site, under a Yew tree
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...
. The yew tree is quite famous, although it was quite damaged in storm
Storm
A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
s, when it was hit by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
. No less than eleven princes of the House of Dinefwr
Dinefwr
Dinefwr was a local government district of Dyfed, Wales from 1974 to 1996. It was named after Dinefwr Castle which was the royal capital of the Principality of Deheubarth and one of the three principal royal courts of Wales....
of the Welsh Royal house of Deheubarth were also buried here during the 12th century and 13th century. A stone marker in the Chapter House of the Cadw monument commemorates these princes. The marker is a replica (the original is housed in a small museum).
The only substantive structure remaining is the entrance archway, the Great West Door to the Abbey Church, though low walls marking the extent of the church and six subsidiary chapels remain. A modern roof (visible in the picture) protects an area of mediaeval tiling, where one can still make out some of the designs. Inside the small on site museum, some of these tiles have been preserved and put on display. Probably the most well known of these is the 'Man with the Mirror', depicting a mediaeval gentleman admiring himself in a mirror.
Foundation
There is a little confusion over the actual founding of the monastery. It was founded by a group of monks from Whitland AbbeyWhitland Abbey
Whitland Abbey was a Cistercian abbey near Whitland in south-west Wales, now in Carmarthenshire.Whitland was founded on 16 September 1140 by monks from the mother house of Clairvaux. In 1144 it was located at Little Trefgarn near Haverfordwest. It moved to Whitland in about 1155, a site having...
, at a time of very fast expansion of the Cistercians, the White Monks. Building actually began on a different site on the banks of the Afon Fflur (from which the present Abbey takes its name), a short distance from the present site. Currently farm land, there are stories that huge stones were unearthed on the original site, known as Hen Fynachlog (the Old Monastery), though how true this is has yet to be formally investigated. Overall, it is considered that the Abbey was founded around 1164 A.D. thanks to the patronage of the Lord Rhys
Rhys ap Gruffydd
Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime...
, which is why many of his descendants were buried there. In 1184, a further charter was issued by Lord Rhys re-affirming Strata Florida as a monastery under the patronage of Deheubarth.
The monastery in its prime
After its foundation Strata Florida increased in power and authority in Wales. Farms belonging to Strata Florida (in English, 'granges') were spread out across the Welsh countryside, and its influence was felt throughout Wales.It is believed that it is at Strata Florida the most important primary historical source for early Welsh history, the Brut y Tywysogion
Brut y Tywysogion
Brut y Tywysogion is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. Brut y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has...
, was compiled.
Around 1238, not even forty years after the building of the Church, the Welsh Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...
held a council at Strata Florida. Here he made the other Welsh Princes swear that they would acknowledge his son Dafydd
Dafydd ap Llywelyn
Dafydd ap Llywelyn was Prince of Gwynedd from 1240 to 1246. He was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales.- Descent :...
as his rightful successor.
Strata Florida Abbey was the base of King Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
and his son, later to become Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
, in 1401 during the early years of the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
. They excluded the monks who had sympathised with Glyndwr and the Abbey was plundered by the English army as a punishment. The King occupied it as a military base as he planned the capture or defeat of the rebel leaders active in the area. In 1402 the Abbey was held in the King's name under the Earl of Worcester
Earl of Worcester
Earl of Worcester is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of the Norman noble Waleran de Beaumont. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de...
and served as a military base for the further campaigns against the Welsh rebels in 1407 and 1415 when it would have been occupied by several hundred men-at-arms and many archers and foot soldiers enlisted in the King's cause.
Dissolution
During the Tudor periodTudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
, with Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's dissatisfaction with the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Church, the monasteries were dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
. Monks throughout the realm were concerned for the safety of not only their religious houses, but their practices and relics.
Strata Florida was not excused from the wrath of Henry VIII, and the monastery was dissolved in the 1540s by the church commissioners. The refectory and dormitory were rebuilt into a gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
house, now known as Ty Abaty, which was owned by a number of families, including the Steadmans and the Powells of Nanteos
Nanteos Mansion
thumb|275px|right|Nanteos MansionNanteos Mansion is a large grade I listed 18th century country house mansion in Rhydyfelin, near Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales....
.
Sir John Vaughan
John Vaughan (judge)
Sir John Vaughan SL , of Trawsgoed, was a British justice.-Life:He was born in Ceredigion, Wales, the eldest of eight children of Edward Vaughan and his wife Letitia Stedman of Strata Florida, and was educated initially at The King's School, Worcester between 1613 and 1618, when he was admitted to...
, of Trawsgoed
Trawsgoed
Trawsgoed Estate located eight miles east of Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, Wales has been in the possession of the Vaughan family since the year 1200...
, acquired from Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....
much of the former monastic lands of the Cistercian abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
at Strata Florida. At the same time further land was added to the estate through his marriage to Jane Stedman, daughter of John Stedman of Ystrad Fflur and Cilcennin.
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St. Mary, within the boundaries of the graveyard, was built from robbed stone, or is a rebuild of what would have been the visitor's chapel for the monastery.
Rediscovery
Strata Florida was left to deteriorate until the arrival of the railways in the late 19th century. A railway engineer by the name of Steven Williams was building the nearby railway line and took an interest in the ruins of the church. At the time, it amounted to nothing more than a massively overgrown collection of indefinable ruins. Williams undertook a massive excavation there, removing huge amounts of spoil, and uncovering the majority of what we see today. Strata Florida once again became a place of pilgrimage, this time to the wealthy Victorians, who were entertained on trips on the railway, who then could make use of a short bus link to visit the remains themselves. Indeed, a principal station on the Carmarthen Aberystwyth Line was named after the Abbey.About the Abbey the 1851 Illustrated London Reading Book says:
- The remains of Strata Florida Abbey, in South Wales, are most interesting in many points of view, more especially as the relics of a stately seminary for learning, founded as early as 1164. The community of the Abbey were Cistercian monks, who soon attained great celebrity, and acquired extensive possessions. They founded a large library that included national records from the earliest periods, works of the bards, and genealogies of the Princes and great families in Wales. The monks also compiled a valuable history of the Principality, down to the death of Llewellyn the Great. When Edward I invaded Wales, he burned the Abbey, but it was rebuilt A.D. 1294.
- Extensive woods once flourished in the vicinity of Strata Florida, and its burial-place covered no less than 120 acre (0.4856232 km²). A long list of eminent persons from all parts of Wales were here buried, and amongst them Dafydd ap GwilymDafydd ap GwilymDafydd ap Gwilym , is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd ap Gwilym (c. 1315/1320 – c. 1350/1370), is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd ap Gwilym...
, the famous bardBardIn medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
. The churchyard is now reduced to small dimensions; but leaden coffins, doubtless belonging to once celebrated personages, are still found, both there and at a distance from the cemetery. Only a few aged box and yew-trees now remain to tell of the luxuriant verdure that once grew around the Abbey. Of the venerable pile itself, little is left, except an arch, and the fragment of a fine old wall, about forty feet high. A small church now stands within the enclosure, more than commonly interesting from having been built with the materials of the once celebrated Abbey of Strata Florida.
University of Wales, Lampeter
University of Wales, Lampeter is a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822 by royal charter, it is the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales and may be the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge...
, and Trinity College, Carmarthen
Trinity College, Carmarthen
Trinity University College was a university college in Carmarthen, Wales. In 2010, it merged with the University of Wales, Lampeter to become the new University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.- History :...
in the woods surrounding the Abbey have failed to find definitive evidence of the kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
that made the tiles for the Abbey. However, several large structures have been revealed through a geophysical survey
Geophysical survey
Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Geophysical surveys may use a great variety of sensing instruments, and data may be collected from above or below the Earth's surface or from aerial or marine platforms. Geophysical surveys have many...
, including what is possibly the gatehouse
Gatehouse
A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance.-History:...
to the inner abbey precinct. A number of sherd
Sherd
In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels as well....
s of medieval tiles were discovered there, indicating that the site may once have also housed a chapel, possibly over the gateway. The building was later reused as a residence, and possibly as agricultural buildings, with a substantial frontage built over the original gateway road to form a third compartment between the two flanking buildings, before falling into disrepair and being ploughed under. A number of field boundaries dating back to the same period have also been discovered. Two leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
s that may have increased water flow into the Glasffrwd were also studied. It is believed they served the overall purpose of running a mill further down stream. Iron working slag was discovered within the proposed precinct. The excavations at Strata Florida are ongoing, and will be for years to come.
Burials
- Dafydd ap GwilymDafydd ap GwilymDafydd ap Gwilym , is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd ap Gwilym (c. 1315/1320 – c. 1350/1370), is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd ap Gwilym...
- Gruffydd ap Rhys IIGruffydd ap Rhys IIGruffydd ap Rhys II was a prince of Deheubarth in south-west Wales.- Lineage :He was the son of Rhys ap Gruffydd and grandson of Gruffydd ap Rhys....
External links
- Strata Florida Abbey - official site at CadwCadw-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
- Website on Strata Florida
- Strata Florida and surrounding area at Geograph
- Monasticwales website - Bibliographical sources, history and images of the abbey