Abergavenny Church, South Wales

It is said that St. Mary’s church in Abergavenny contains some of the finest medieval sculptures of anywhere in Wales.  St. Mary’s was originally a Priory Church, which was founded in 1087, as a Benedictine Priory.  It was founded by Hamelin de Balun, as a cell of the Abbey of Saint Vincent, at Le Mans in France. 

Recent excavations have found a significant amount of Roman material, which suggests that the church may have been built on the site of an early Roman church.  Next to the church is a medieval Tithe barn, which contains information on the town's history.

In the early 14th Century, John Hastings was the 2nd Baron Hastings, who inherited the title of Baron Abergavenny from his father.  He called upon the Pope to investigate the Priory at Abergavenny and accused the monks of failing to maintain the Benedictine Rule. The Prior at the time was Fulk Gaston, who then absconded with the church silver. 

The carvings in the choir date from the 15th and 16th Centuries.   The large collections of effigies are made from wood, alabaster and marble, and date from the 13th to 17th Centuries.  They depict members of the Braose, Hastings, and Herbert families, who were successive Lords of Abergavenny.

By the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Priory at Abergavenny had one Prior and four monks living there. It also had close connections to the Tudor Dynasty and because of this, was somewhat spared and allowed to become a parish church.