Tintern Abbey, South Wales

Tintern Abbey is located in the Wye Valley in Wales. Lying next to the River Wye, the Abbey is situated in a picturesque valley surrounded by rocky wooded cliffs.  While the Abbey is a ruin, its location makes it special as it is virtually unchanged by time. 

The Cistercian monastery at Tintern was founded by Walter Fitzrichard de Clare. De Clare was lord of Chepstow and he donated the land at Tinern in 1131.  The Abbey was populated by the monks from the Norman Abbey of L’Aumone.  It became the second Cistercian order in Britain. 

Over the years Tintern Abbey built up extensive estates on both sides of the River Wye and beyond, these farm steads were known as Granges.  Many of the monastic granges were originally farmed by monks and lay brothers in the early Middle Ages but by the 14th and 15th Centuries many became tenant farmed. 

The Abbey church was rebuilt in the late 13th Century under the patronage of Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk and it is these massive church ruins we see today.

When Owain Glyndwr rose up against the English King and his oppression of the Welsh, he made his way to Tintern Abbey. The rebels attacked and pillaged many of the Abbey's granges. The Battle of Craig y Dorth was fought just 7 miles from Tintern. 

Tintern Abbey was dissolved in 1537 durring the Dissolution. Its lands were granted to Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester and Lord of Chepstow. Somerset sold off the Abbey’s tin roof, allowing the church and it's surrounding buildings to fall into ruin. 

Tintern Abbey was rediscovered during the rise in Romanticism in the 18th Century. It became popularized as a destination for adventurous upper class tourists.  Turner and Wordsworth both visited the ruins of Tintern. 

In the 19th Century, Tintern became somewhat of a tourist attraction.  Unfortunately these visitors saw nothing wrong in taking home souvenirs and the building’s stone was being removed from the site in the form of trinkets. The issue prompted the Crown to purchase the property in 1901 for its preservation. Restoration works began that year and continued until 1928. This work fixed any structural issues and helped preserve the building for the future. CADW took over the site in 1984 and still preserve it today.