Site details: Cardiff - Monastic Wales - A Comprehensive Database of Sites and Sources


Home Project team 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: Cardiff (Priory) also known as: St Mary, Cardiff Order: Benedictine Cardiff Priory was founded when Earl Robert fitz Hamon of Gloucester (d. 1107) granted the church of St Mary with its eight dependent chapels to Tewkesbury Abbey (Gloucestershire) to establish a cell for five monks. The priory may have been abandoned before its formal dissolution in 1403.show more... Standing remains Nothing remains of the former priory but some architectural fragments are preserved in the Church of St Mary, Butetown, and include a carved head. Dedicated to: St Mary Medieval Diocese: Llandaff Affiliated to: Tewkesbury Abbey (mother-house) Lordship at foundation: Glamorgan Access: No remains, but some architectural fragments survive at the Church of St Mary, Butetown Main events in the history of this site pre 1106: Foundation - Robert fitz Hamon granted the church of St Mary with its eight dependent chapels to Tewkesbury Abbey, to establish a cell for five monks. [2 sources] 1173x83: Rebuilding and re-dedication - The church was rebuilt and re-dedicated to St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr. [1 source] 1220: Community flees - The community escaped the turbulent conditions in Wales and took refuge at Tewkesbury Abbey. [4 sources] 1233: Administration - The prior of Cardiff returned from Tewkesbury to administer the priory's holdings but the weir on the Taff was leased out for five years. [2 sources] c.1291: Wealth - The priory’s holdings were assessed at £20 for the Taxatio Ecclesiastica. [2 sources] c.1300: Patronage - Patronage of the house was vested in the earls of Gloucester; it then passed to the Despensers and thereafter to the Crown. [1 source] 1403: Dissolution - The house was dissolved in 1403 although the site may have been abandoned prior to this. [2 sources] c.1403: Destruction - The priory was sacked by the rebel, Owain Glyn Dŵr (d. c. 1416). [1 source] + 6 minor events. Show minor events People associated with this site Priors of Cardiff Robert fitz Hamo; Robert fitz Haimon , magnate and soldier (founder) William (second) earl of Gloucester (patron) Bibliographical sources 14 Printed sources show sources 'The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales I, 940-1216' ed.David Knowles, Christopher Brooke and Vera London(London 1972; 2001) pp. 86-87 'The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales III, 1377-1540' ed.David M. Smith(Cambridge 2008) p. 102 'The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales II, 1216-1377' ed.David M. Smith and Vera London(Cambridge 2001) p. 95 'Cartae et alia munimenta quae ad dominium de Glamorgancia pertinent' 6 vols ed.G. T. Clark, rev. G. L. Clark(Cardiff 1910) 'Tewkesbury Annals' Annales Monastici 1 Rolls Series 36 ed.H. R. Luard(London 1864) 'Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books (second edn)' ed.N. R. Ker(London 1964) p. 48 'Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales' ed.R. Neville Hadcock and David Knowles(Harlow 1971) pp. 53, 62 '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, rev. J. Caley, H. Ellis, B. Bandinel(London 1817-1830) vol. 4, p. 632 Cowley, F. G., 'The Monastic Order in South Wales 1066-1349' (Cardiff 1977) Graham, Rose, 'The taxation of Pope Nicholas IVth' Engish Historical Review (1908) pp.434-454 Heale, Martin, 'The Dependent Priories of Medieval English Monasteries' Studies in the History of Medieval Religion 22 (Woodbridge 2004) Rees, W., 'The priory of Cardiff and other possessions of the abbey of Tewkesbury in Glamorgan' South Wales and Monmouthshire Record Society 2 (1950) pp.148-149 Smallwood, T. M., 'The date of the Gough Map' Imago Mundi 62 (2010) pp.3–29 Williams, G., 'The church in Glamorgan from the 14th c to the Reformation' Glamorgan County History III: The Middle Ages ed.T. B. Pugh(Cardiff 1971) 3 On-line sources show online sources (all open in new window) Dugdale, Monasticon online - Cardiff (View website) British History online - Cardiff Priory (View website) Green, Judith, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Robert fitz Haimon (View website) (Subscription reqd.) Archival sources British Library, 'THEOLOGICAL and historical works, in Latin, including the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux', (Document), (View website) Related articles on Monastic Wales Who were the Benedictines?, Professor Janet Burton Images of this site Carved head, Church of St Mary, Butetown	Carved head, Church of St Mary, Butetown, Church of St Mary, Butetown Cardiff, OS Grid:ST18677561

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