Monastic Wales.








Remnants of Beddgelert Priory


There are no surviving remains of the claustral buildings but the parish church that now occupies the site (the Church of St Mary, Beddgelert) incorporates medieval remnants that date from the mid-thirteenth century, when the community became Augustinian. It is thought that an early medieval (Celtic) clas previously occupied the site making Beddgelert one of the oldest religious foundations in the country.
Whilst the building dates to the thirteenth century, it was repaired in the mid-fifteenth century after a fire; in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries restoration work was undertaken.
Several medieval architectural features are of note. The triple lancets in the chancel east wall are rather striking for this part of Snowdonia and the two arches which open into the nave of the present north transept are unusual for this area with their ‘unexpected refinement with their deep mouldings’ [Cooper]. The north wall of this transept is built on the original north wall which survives only to foundation level. The blocked doorway in the west end of the north wall is an eighteenth-century addition. [1]

[1] Coflein database; R. Cooper, Abbeys and Priories of Wales, pp. 41-2.]


Monastic sites related to this article

Beddgelert, Gwynedd(Priory)
 
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