Tintern Abbey

'After passing a miserable row of cottages and forcing our way through a crowd of importunate
beggars, we stopped to examine the rich architecture of the west front ; but the door being
suddenly opened, the inside perspective of the church called forth an instantaneous burst of
admiration, and filled me with delight, such as I scarcely ever before experienced on a similar
occasion'.

Archdeacon William Coxe, An Historical tour of Monmouth (London 1801)

I can't imagine anyone ever forgetting the first time they set eyes on Tintern Abbey - it has an
almost magical quality about it, which is enhanced by its remote setting beside the tidal River
Wye and the background of surrounding hills covered in woods.

I had been looking forward to this trip since Christmas time when it was first discussed -
originally we were to visit Tintern and Llanthony Abbeys with a visit to the Skirrid Mountain Inn
but because of the F & M situation we could not visit Llanthony.
Our brief was to meet in the Abbey Car Park at 11am - some of us were obviously a bit too eager
to get there and turned up before 10.30! - Chris 'Awkward' McKenna probably wished he'd
stayed in bed another hour as Jackie, Corinne , Amy and Siobhan descended upon him lurking in
his car and introduced themselves - what a brave lad ! And the sun was shining too...
Slowly the rest of the group appeared - Eddi and Jeff, Jane (Jinksy) and John ...but
where was Dave ?
We waited and waited... and then he appeared strolling along towards our motley crew , drinking
milky coffee from a mug - seems he had the right idea and was sitting in the tea shop
replenishing his liquid levels !
'Now this is what you call an Abbey....'
Tintern was the first Cistercian Abbey in Wales and only the second in Britain. The original
foundations of the Abbey in 1136 were remodelled and expanded over a long period of time. In
1301 the new church at Tintern was finished and it is the vast remains of this we are lucky
enough to see today.

From the outside , the church looks almost complete but with no roof or window glass. Its most
impressive feature is the west front - above the twin doorway is a vast seven light window with
nearly all its tracery intact and above that a smaller arched window. By comparison the
enormous window at the East end is just a gaping hole split by the central mullion and circular
window above

As you enter the Abbey you really begin to appreciate the sheer scale of this ruin.
The Abbey is in a standard Cistercian plan with the exception that the cloisters and ancillary
buildings which were built to the North of the Church instead of to the South

After lots of discussion by some on vaulting in the 'warming house' and a good gander round the
Abbey, we posed for photos sitting on the remains of the Abbots Lodging. .
History of Tintern Abbey

The Abbey was founded in 1131 by Walter fitz Richard of Clare, the Anglo Norman lord of
Chepstow. Tintern was a Cistercian Monastery and was linked as a daughter of the abbey of
l'Aumone, which in turn was a daughter of Citeaux in Burgundy, Eastern France.

In time Tintern established two daughter houses - in 1139 Kingswood in Gloucester and in 1203
Tintern Parva, west of Wexford in South East Ireland.

The Cistercian monks (or White Monks) who lived at Tintern followed the Rule of St Benedict.
The Carta Caritatis or Charter of Love laid out their basic principals , they were;
Obedience
Poverty
Chastity
Silence
Prayer
Work

Despite this austere way of life the Cistercians were one of the most successful orders in the 12th
and 13th Centuries. The present day remains of Tintern are a mixture of building works covering
a 400-year period between 1136 and 1536. Very little remains of the first buildings, a few
sections of walling are incorporated into later buildings and the two recessed cupboards for
books on the east of the cloisters are from this period. The church of that time was smaller than
the present building and was slightly to the north.

The lands of the Abbey were divided into agricultural units or granges, local people worked on
these granges and provided services such as smithies to the Abbey. Many endowments of land on
both sides of the Wye in Gwent and Gloucestershire were made to the Abbey. During the 13th
Century, the Abbey was virtually rebuilt, first the cloisters and the domestic ranges then finally
the great church between 1269 and 1301. Roger Bigod III, the then time lord of Chepstow was a
generous benefactor, his monumental undertaking was the rebuilding of the church. The Abbey
put his coat of arms in the glass of its east window in gratitude to him. It is this great church that
we see today. It has a cruciform plan with an aisled nave; two chapels in each transept and a
square ended aisled chancel. The gothic church represents the architectural developments of its
day in the contemporary Decorated Style.

In 1326 King Edward II visited Tintern and spent two nights there.
The Black Death swept the country in 1349 and it became impossible to attract new recruits for
the lay brotherhood. Changes to the way the granges were tenanted out rather than worked by lay
brothers show the difficulty Tintern was experiencing with labour shortages. In the early 1400's
Tintern was experiencing financial difficulties due in part to the effects of the Welsh uprising
under Owain Glyndwr against the English Kings and Abbey properties were destroyed by the
Welsh rebels.

The closest battle to the Abbey was at Craig y Dorth on the outskirts on Monmouth.
In the reign of King Henry VIII monastic life in England and Wales was brought to an abrupt
end by his policy of establishing total control over the church and to take advantage of the
considerable wealth of the Monasteries.
On 3rd September 1536 Abbot Wyche surrendered Tintern Abbey to the Kings visitors and
ended a way of life, which had lasted 400 years. The valuable articles from the Abbey were sent
to the Kings treasury and Abbot Wyche pensioned off.
The building was granted to the earl of Worcester - lead from the roof was sold and the decay of
the shell of the buildings began.
In the next two centuries little or no interest was shown in the history of the site. However in the
Eighteenth century it became fashionable to visit wilder parts of the country, the Wye Valley in
particular was well known for its romantic and picturesque qualities and the ivy clad Abbey was
frequented by 'romantic' tourists. After the publication of the book ' Observations on the River
Wye' by the Reverend William Gilpin in 1782 tourists visited the site in droves.
In the nineteenth century ruined abbeys became the focus for scholars and architectural and
archaeological investigations were carried out. In 1901 the Abbey was bought by the crown for
�15,000 and recognised as a monument of national importance and repair and maintenance
works were carried out.
In 1914 the Office of Works were passed responsibility for Tintern and major structural repairs
were undertaken - the Ivy considered so romantic by the early tourists was removed.

In 1984 CADW took over responsibility for the site.