[TINTERN (Cistercian)]
1131, Founded by Richard de Bienfaite—Colonised by monks from L’Anmone—In the reign of Henry III., William, Marshal of England and Earl of Pembroke, “Confirmed to God and the Blessed Mary of Tyntern and to the abbot and monks there all the lands and revenues given to them by his ancestors” (Dugdale’s Monasticon)—1287, The building of the abbey church begun—153—, Dissolved. Annual revenue, £193, 1s. 4d. Site given to present owners, the Earls of Worcester.
More than one great artist has immortalised the secluded vale, where, on a bend of the Wye and surrounded by wooded hills, the ruins of Tintern Abbey stand. The sombre-looking heights, which close in to the east and west, create the atmosphere of loneliness and separation from the world so sought after by the Cistercian monks, who doubtless found inspiration in the grandeur of the surrounding mountains and in the peacefulness of the sweet valley below. Though the church of the Early English abbey is roofless and the central tower gone, the noble structure, with its many graceful arches, seems to attest to the spirit of religious fervour and devotion so intimately associated with the history of its grey and lichen-covered walls.
The finest part of the ruins is undoubtedly the church, which, with the exception of the roof and the north piers of the nave, still stands complete. It has a nave of six bays with aisles, a choir of four bays with aisles, the transepts with eastern aisles having two chapels. A transverse Galilee stood formerly beyond the western entrance. In the north transept are remains of the dormitory stairs, and on this side the cloisters too were situated. The aumbry, parlour, sacristy, chapter-house, slype to the infirmary, day-stairs to dormitory and undercroft were on the east side of the cloisters; the postern and river gate, over which was the abbot’s lodge on the north side, and also the buttery, refectory and kitchen. The delicacy of design and execution to be seen in the ruins is unrivalled in the kingdom—the tracery of the windows being particularly fine. The ruined church possesses the grace and lightness of architecture peculiar to the 12th century, and is, even in its decay, of truly sublime and grand proportions. Time has been unable to obliterate the skilful work of our forefathers, for the Early English transition arches, the delicate moulding, and the exquisite stone tracery in the windows still delight the eye.
The history of Tintern is almost a hidden page in the chronicles of time. On the surrender of Raglan Castle to the Cromwellian troops by the Marquis of Worcester, the Castle was razed to the ground, and with it were lost the abbey records, which had been taken from Tintern when the abbey was granted to the Marquis’ ancestor by Henry VIII. It is known, however, that the first foundation on the site was in the hands of a cousin of William the Conqueror, Richard de Bienfaite by name. He founded the abbey in 1131, and was succeeded by his nephew, Gilbert “Strongbow.” His granddaughter Isabel married the then Earl of Pembroke, and her daughter, marrying Hugh Bigod, brought the estates to the ducal house of Norfolk.
[LLANTHONY (Augustine Canons)]
1103, William, a retainer and kinsman of Hugh de Lacy, retires to the small chapel once inhabited by St David on this spot; leads the life of a hermit, and is joined by Ernisius, Chaplain to Queen Maud—1108, A small church erected and dedicated to St John the Baptist by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Bishop of Hereford—After some time a brotherhood formed of black Augustine Canons brought from the monasteries at Mereton, Trinity Priory in London and Colchester—Ernisius is made prior—1136, The monks driven from the monastery owing to the hostility of the Welsh and given new ground near Gloucester by Milo, Earl of Hereford, on which they erect a new church—1150, The present edifice at Llanthony built by Prior William of Wycombe—1482-83, Edward IV. gives the priory of Llanthony and all the lands appertaining to it to the prior of the house at Gloucester—1539, Both houses dissolved. Annual revenue £648, 19s. 11d.—1807, The priory at Llanthony purchased by Walter Landon, the eminent writer—1870, Father Ignatius builds a monastery for monks and nuns near Llanthony Abbey.
“’Mongst Hatterill’s lofty hills that with the clouds are crowned
The valley Ewias lies immersed so deep and round
As they below that see the mountains rise so high
Might think the straggling herds were grazing in the sky.
Where in an aged cell with moss and ivy grown,
In which not to this day the sun hath ever shone,
The reverend British saint, in zealous ages past
To contemplation lived and did so truly fast
As he did drink what crystal Hodney yields
And fed upon the leeks he gathered in the fields,
In memory of whom, in the revolving year
The Welchman on his day that sacred herb do wear.”
Drayton’s Polyolbion.