Site details: Aberconwy 1


Home dershane Project team Project News Future plans Contact us Search the database Browse list of sites Browse list of orders Browse bibliography & archives Browse people Browse articles Glossary of terms Monastic Wales is not responsible for the content of external internet sites	Display site: Aberconwy 1 (Abbey) also known as: Conwy 1 Order: Cistercian The community originally settled at Rhedenog-fel (Rhedynog Felen), Conwy, south of Caernarfon, but moved c. 1192, and finally relocated in 1283 to Maenan. The monastery flourished under the patronage of the princes of Gwynedd, and abbots of Aberconwy acted as their advisors and emissaries; a number of the rulers requested burial in the abbey. Aberconwy soon became the leading monastery in North Wales. show details of standing remains Standing remains The parish church of St Mary, Conwy, occupies the site of the former abbey church and incorporates some of the medieval structure in the east and west walls. The church was largely rebuilt in the late thirteenth century when it was converted into a parish church. The medieval Rood screen dates from the early sixteenth century when the church was occupied by the laity. Dedicated to: Virgin Mary Medieval Diocese: Bangor Affiliated to: Strata Florida (mother-house) Lordship at foundation: Gwynedd Access: Public access to the Parish Church of St Mary and All Saints Owned by: Representative Body of the Church in Wales Main events in the history of this site 1186: Foundation - Aberconwy was founded on 24 July 1186 and colonised by monks from Strata Florida. [3 sources] 1192: Relocation - The austere conditions at Rehednog-fel prompted the monks to relocate. [1 source] c.1200: Patronage - Llywelyn ab Iowerth gave the community the township of Nanhwynain. [1 source] 1216: Burial - Hywel ap Gruffydd was buried at the house. [1 source] c.1240: Burial - Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth took the habit at Aberconwy shortly before his death and was buried at the house; his stone coffin can now be seen in Llanrwst parish church. [1 source] 1245: Destruction and compensation - The abbey was sacked and looted by Henry III's men who destroyed the church. [3 sources] 1246: Burial - Iowerth the Great's successor, Dafydd, was buried at the house. [2 sources] 1248: Burial - Prince Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (d. 1244), the illegtimate son of Llywelyn the Great, was buried at the house. [5 sources] c.1255: Patronage - Llywelyn ap Gruffydd granted Aberconwy the tithes of Llanbadrig, to reward the monks for their loyalty to him. [1 source] 1277: Meeting - Llywelyn ap Gruffydd signed the Treaty of Aberconwy at the abbey and capitulated to Edward I. [1 source] 1280: Request for prayers - The Cistercian General Chapter agreed to the abbot of Aberconwy's request that the Order include Dafydd ap Gruffudd and his wife in their prayers and spiritual benefits. [1 source] 1281: Grant - The monks gave Llywelyn ap Gruffydd £40 as a mark of their gratitude for his kindness. [1 source] c.1283-4: Relocation - Edward I compelled the monks to relocate to Maenan, some seven miles away. [2 sources] 1283: Occupation - In 1283 (13 March-9 May) Edward I quartered at Aberconwy for the last months of his campaign against the Welsh. [2 sources] + 11 minor events. Show minor events People associated with this site Abbots of Conwy Dafydd ap Llywelyn , prince of Gwynedd (patron; buried at house) Edward I , king of England , lord of Ireland, duke of Aquitaine (stays; relocates house) Gruffudd ap Cynan (benefactor; buried at house) Gruffudd ap Llywelyn , ruler in Wales (Buried at the abbey) Henry III , king of England and lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine (causes destruction) Hywel ap Gruffudd (buried at the house) Llywelyn ab Iorwerth; Llywelyn Fawr , prince of Gwynedd (patron; buried at house) Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd , lord of Aston; prince of Gwynedd (patron) Bibliographical sources 44 Printed sources show sources The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain: far from the concourse of men, ed. David M. Robinson (London, 1998) pp. 64-65 'The Register and Chronicle of the abbey of Aberconwy', in Camden Miscelleny, 1, Camden Society old series, 39, ed. H. Ellis (London, 1847), pp. 1-23 Medieval Monasteries of Great Britain, ed. Lionel Butler and Christopher Given-Wilson (London, 1979) p. 36 Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales, ed. R. Neville Hadcock and David Knowles (Harlow, 1971) pp. 112, 118 Monasticon Anglicanum: a History of the Abbies and other Monasteries, Hospitals, Frieries, and Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, with their Dependencies, in England and Wales, 6 in 8 vols, ed. Sir William Dugdale, revised J. Caley, H. Ellis, B. Bandinel (London, 1817-1830) vol. 5, pp. 671-672 Brut y Tywysogyon or the Chronicle of the Princes: Red Book of Hergest Version, ed. Thomas Jones (Cardiff, 1955) Brut y Tywysogyon or the Chronicle of the Princes: Peniarth MS 20 Version, ed. Thomas Jones (Cardiff, 1952; repr. 1985) Bryan, A., 'Aberconwy Abbey: a case of medieval persuasion', Transactions of the Caernarvonshire Historical Society, 60 (1999), pp. 125-149 Burton, Janet, 'The foundation of the British Cistercian houses', in Cistercian Art and Architecture in the British Isles, ed. Christopher Norton and David Park (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 24-39 Butler, L., 'An excavation in the vicarage garden, Conwy, 1961', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 113 (1964), pp. 97-128 Butler, L. A. S., 'The lost choir: What was built at three Cistercian abbey churches in Wales?', in Perspectives for an Architecture of Solitude: Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture in Honour of Peter Fergusson, Medieval church studies, 11; CÃ®teaux. Studia et documenta, 13, ed. Terryl N. Kinder (Turnhout, 2004), pp. 115-123 Cooper, R., Abbeys and Priories of Wales (Swansea, 1992) pp. 49-50 Cowley, F. G., The Monastic Order in South Wales 1066-1349 (Cardiff, 1977) Elias, T., 'The history and associations of the abbeys and convents of the Vale of Conwy and district', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, new series, 4 (1898), pp. 30-62 Gray, Madeleine, 'Preface to Cistercians in Wales and the west', Archaeologia Cambrensis, (2007), pp. 17-26 Gresham, C. A., Medieval Stone Carving in North Wales: Sepulchral Slabs and Effigies of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, Cardiff (1968) pp. 255-256 Gresham, C. A., 'The Aberconwy charter', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 94 (1939), pp. 123-162 Gresham, C. A., 'The Aberconwy Charter: further consideration', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 30 (1983), pp. 311-347 Hays, R. W., The History of the Abbey of Aberconway, 1186-1537 (Cardiff, 1963) Hughes, H., 'The architectural history of St Mary's Church, Conwy', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 5th series, 12:47 (1895), pp. 161-179 Hughes, H., 'Conwy parish church', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 92 (1937), pp. 370-2 Hurlock, Kathryn, 'Pilgrimage', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 119-131 Insley, C., 'Fact and fiction in thirteenth-century Gwynedd: the Aberconwy charters', Studia Celtica, 33 (1999), pp. 235-50 Johnston, Dafydd, 'Monastic patronage of Welsh poetry', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 177-190 Kerr, Julie, 'Cistercian hospitality in the later Middle Ages', in Monasteries and Society in the British Isles in the Later Middle Ages, Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, 35, ed. Janet Burton and Karen StÃ¶ber (Woodbridge, 2008), pp. 25-39 Lloyd-Morgan, Ceridwen, 'Manuscripts and the monasteries', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 209-227 Lowe, W. D., The Heart of Northern Wales, 2 vols (Private: Llanfairfechan, 1912-28) vol. 1, pp. 266-268 O'Sullivan, J. F., Cistercian settlements in Wales and Monmouthshire, 1140-1540, Fordham Univ. Studies, History series, 2 (New York, 1947) pp. 17-18 RCAHMW, Caernarvonshire 1: East (London, 1956) pp. 39-46 Richards, Gwynfryn, 'The church of St. Mary and All Saints, Conwy', Publications of the Historical Society of the Church in Wales (1966), pp. 28-60 Roberts, Enid Pierce, 'The impact of the Cistercians on Welsh life and culture in north and mid Wales', Transactions of the Denbighshire Historical Society, 50 (2001), pp. 13-23 Robinson, David M., The Cistercians in Wales: Architecture and Archaeology 1130-1540, Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Committee Report (London, 2006) pp. 223-225 Robinson, David M. and Harrison, Stuart, 'Cistercian Cloisters in England and Wales: Part I', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 159 (2006), pp. 131-207 Salter, Mike, Abbeys, Priories and Cathedrals of Wales (Folly Publications: Malvern, 2012) pp. 20-1 Shaw, Heather, 'Cistercian abbots in the service of British monarchs (1135-1335)', CÃ®teaux Commentarii Cistercienses, 58 (2007), pp. 225-245 Stephenson, David, The Aberconwy Chronicle, Kathleen Hughes memorial lectures on mediaeval Welsh history, 2 (Cambridge, 2002) Stephenson, David, 'The rulers of Gwynedd and Powys', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen StÃ¶ber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 89-102 StÃ¶ber, Karen, 'Social networks of late medieval Welsh monasteries', in Monasteries and Society in the Later Middle Ages, Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, 35, ed. Janet Burton and Karen StÃ¶ber (Boydell and Brewer: Woodbridge, 2008), pp. 12-24 Ward, M., 'High St Conwy', Archaeology in Wales, 34 (1994), p. 62 Williams, David H., The Welsh Cistercians (Leominster, 2001) Williams, David H., The Cistercians in the Early Middle Ages (Leominster, 1998) Williams, David H., Atlas of Cistercian Lands in Wales (Cardiff, 1990) pp. 36-38 Williams, David H., 'Catalogue of Welsh ecclesiastical seals as known down to AD 1600, 4: Seals of Cistercian monasteries', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 136 (1988), pp. 138-155 Williams, R., The History and Antiquities of the Town of Aberconwy (Privately printed: Denbigh, 1835) 6 On-line sources show online sources (all open in new window) The Cistercians in Yorkshire Project - Aberconwy (View website) Carr, A. D., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (View website) (Subscription reqd.) Carr, A. D., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd (View website) (Subscription reqd.) RCAHMW, Coflein database - St Mary's and All Saints Church, Conwy (View website) Smith, J. B., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Dafydd ap Llywelyn (View website) Tout, T. F., revised Carr, A. D., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (View website) Archival sources The National Archives, 'Agreement between Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Maredudd ap Rhys', (Document), (View website) Britih Library, 'The Register and Chronicle of the abbey of Aberconwy', (Document), (View website) Related articles on Monastic Wales The Cistercians in Wales, Professor Janet Burton Who were the Cistercians?, Professor Janet Burton Images of this site Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Conwy Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Conwy Rood Screen, Church of St Mary and All Saints, Conwy Rood Screen, Church of St Mary and All Saints, Conwy	Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Conwy Conwy, OS Grid:SH7816377526 View site details on COFLEIN (RCAHMW database)[new window]

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