Abbeys of the Cistercian Monks

Cymer

Cistercian monks originated in the French town of Cîteaux which apparently means 'reeds'. They were particularly successful in Wales and created a whole series of monasteries across the province. They were known for their piety and hard working natures and were thus accepted by the communities. The first monastery I saw was at Valle Crucis near Llangollen but Cymer Abbey is my first where I knew what they represented beforehand. The abbey is simple yet beautiful especially when you consider that through lack of funds the nave had no transept and thus no central tower. A tower was built in the 14th century but 'you know who' put paid to that in the 16th. I plan to visit more of these ruins and will update this document accordingly but for now here is an interesting fact. The monasteries are more or less 25 miles apart because that is the distance a monk riding on a pony could hope to travel in one day

Valle Crucis

Valle Crucis is special as one of the buildings still has a roof! The chapterhouse, while technically a ruin, is pretty much as it was at the time of the reformation. It always amazes me when this happens, the structure seems no stronger than the rest of the abbey and yet for some reason the reformers tore the abbey down but left the chapterhouse. I wonder what went through their minds as they loaded the canons or hurled the boulders. I don't think the destruction of an abbey has ever been recorded.

Finally, I made it to Strata Florida in August 2013. I think this is the abbey that is 25 miles south of Cymer

Abbey. The bad news is the abbey is almost totally a ruin. The good news is that the cruciform outline of the church is beautifully preserved and the west door in all its glory is still standing. Built on land provided by Rhys ap Gruffudd the abbey took 50 years to build starting in 1184. The abbey was one of the most important in Wales and was the base of Henry IV's operations against Owain Glyndwr. The church was demolished at the dissolution of 1540. Buried under rubble, the Victorians rediscovered the abbey and restored it to what we see today.