Site details: Whitland


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: Whitland (Abbey) also known as: Albalanda; Abaty Hendy-gwyn; Y Ty Gwyn ar Daf Order: Cistercian Whitland was founded by Bernard, bishop of St David's (1115-1148), and remained under episcopal patronage until its suppression. The monastery was supported by the native Welsh.show details of standing remains Standing remains Little of the abbey has survived but the plan of the church was recovered during excavations in 1926; an outline of the former monastery is marked. All that remains of the former monastic church are the stone foundations and piers. Walls from the monks' cloister are incorporated into a nineteenth-century walled garden. Remains of what may have been a gatehouse lie to the west. Dedicated to: Virgin Mary Medieval Diocese: St David's Affiliated to: Clairvaux (mother-house); Cwmhir (daughter-house); Strata Florida (daughter-house); Strata Marcella (daughter-house); Comber, Ireland (daughter-house); Tracton, Ireland (daughter-house) Lordship at foundation: Deheubarth Access: Private but ruins visible from road Main events in the history of this site pre 1145: Foundation - Whitland was the first of two houses in Wales to be colonised direct from Clairvaux and spawned a number of daughter-houses. [2 sources] c.1151: Relocation - Following the death of Bishop Bernard of St David's, the community relocated to Whitland. [3 sources] 1160s (late): Patronage - Rhys ap Gruffudd assumed patronage of the house and added to the community's endowments. [2 sources] 1164: Founds daughter-house - Whitland founded its first daughter-house at Strata Florida. [1 source] pre 1166: Patronage - By 1166 Rhys ap Gruffudd had confirmed and extended the abbey's original grant of Hendy-gwyn ar Dâf. [1 source] 1170: Founds daughter-house - Whitland founded its second daughter-house at Stata Marcella. [1 source] 1176: Founds daughter-house - Whitland founded a daughter-house at Cwmhir. [1 source] 1186: Burial - Rhys's son, Cadwaladr, was buried at the house. [1 source] 1188: Visit - Gerald of Wales and Archbishop Baldwin stayed at the abbey while preaching the Crusade. [1 source] 1200: Founds daughter-house - On 25 January Whitland founded a daughter-house at Comber, Co. Down, Ireland. [3 sources] 1220: Burden of hospitality - Abbots travelling from Ireland to the General Chapter at Cîteaux often broke their journey at Whitland. [3 sources] 1224: Founds daughter-house - A second daughter-house was founded in Ireland - at Tracton, Co Cork. [4 sources] 1247: Abbey invaded - Nicholas, lord of Cemais, Patrick de Chaworth, lord of Kilwelly and of Carew, accompanied by Stephen Bauzan and a band of knights, invaded the abbey. [1 source] 1258: Plundered - Whitland was plundered by royalists on 4 February; abbey servants were killed in the skirmish. [2 sources] 1271: Burial - Maredudd ap Rhys Gryg WAS buried at the front steps of the High Altar. [1 source] c.1291: Wealth - According to the Taxatio Ecclesiastica Whitland had an estimated income of £43 15s 4d, a rather insignificant amount and perhaps a consequence of damages incurred during the Edwardian wars. [5 sources] 1295: Royal visit - Edward I stayed at the house on 5 June 1295, during the revolts. [1 source] 1377: Clerical poll tax - Payments demanded from the community. [1 source][1 archive] 1379: Clerical poll tax - Payments required from the community. [1 source][1 archive] c.1405: Glyn DÅµr rebellion - The abbot of Whitland was accused of being a rebel and of supporting Glyn DÅµr. [3 sources] c.1440: Decline - Abbot David (1433-43) claimed that his house had been devastated to such an extent by warfare and fire that the monastery's revenues and resources could barely support him and his eight monks. [2 sources] 1491: Deposition of abbot - Abbot Huby of Fountains, reformator of the Cistercian houses in England and Wales, deposed the abbot of Whitland. 'for moral laxity and illicit contracts' [Williams, The Welsh Cistercians, p. 63]. [2 sources] c.1496: Murder - A monk of Neath Abbey who was staying at Whitland killed a secular priest in the cloister. [3 sources] c.1535: Wealth - According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus the house had a net income of £135 3s 69d. [3 sources] 1539: Dissolution - While Whitland was dissolved following the 1536 Act of Suppression, it was re-founded in April 1537 but finally closed in February 1539. [4 sources] + 18 minor events. Show minor events People associated with this site Abbots of Whitland Bernard , bishop of St David's (founder) Edward I , king of England , lord of Ireland, duke of Aquitaine (visits) Gerald of Wales; Giraldus Cambrensis , archdeacon of Brecon (visits) John (Lackland) , king of England, and lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou (benefactor) John Leland , antiquary, poet (visits) Rhys ap Gruffudd , prince of Deheubarth (patron) Bibliographical sources 58 Printed sources show sources 'Whitland Abbey', Gentlemen's Magazine, 109 (1839), pp. 595-8 'Notes on Whitland Abbey', Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 14, part 38 (1919/1921), pp. 58-59 'Whitland Abbey Excavations', Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 29: 47 (1926), pp. 13, 33-34 'Whitland Abbey Excavations', Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 29: 48 (1926), pp. 58-59 'Whitland Abbey Relics', Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 15: 40 (1921/22), p. 48 The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain: far from the concourse of men, ed. David M. Robinson (London, 1998) pp. 204-5 Royal Charters and Historical Documents Relating to the Town & County of Carmarthen and the Abbeys of ... Talley and Tygwgn-ar Daf [Whitland], ed. J. R. Daniel-Tyssen (W. Spurrell: Carmarthen, 1878) Annales Cambriae (AD 444-1288), Rolls Series, 20, ed. J. Williams ab Ithel (London, 1860) 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. 115, 128 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. 591-592 'Cronica de Wallia and other documents from Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3514', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, ed. T. Jones (1946), pp. 27-44 Bezant, Jemma, 'Travel and communication', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 133-145 Brett, C., 'The prefaces of two late thirteenth-century Welsh Latin chronicles', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 35 (1988), pp. 63-73 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 Clapham, A. W., 'The monastic houses of South Wales', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 76 (1921) pp. 205-208 Collier, E. V., 'Whitland Abbey', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 3 (1927), pp. 242-3 Collier, E. V., 'Whitland Abbey excavations: interim report', Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society, 19 (1925-6), pp. 63-4, 79-80 Cooper, R., Abbeys and Priories of Wales (Swansea, 1992) pp. 91-93 Crane, P., 'Whitland Abbey', Archaeology in Wales, 35 (1995), p. 62 Curtis, Mary, Antiquities of Laugharne, Pendine and their Neighborhoods, Carmarthenshire, Amroth, Sandersfoot, Cilgetty, Pembrokeshire, South Wales (R. Clay, Sons & Taylor: 2nd edn; London, 1880) pp. 235-241 Driver, Toby, 'Tir Newydd Grange, Llanwenog (SN 4924 4814)', Archaeology in Wales, 42 (2002), pp. 123-124 Fleming, Andrew, 'The Making of a Medieval Road: the Monk’s Trod Routeway, Mid Wales', Landscapes, 10: 1 (2009), pp. 77-100 Gaimster, Märit, and Bradley, John, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland, 2001: Whitland Abbey (SN 208 182)', Medieval Archaeology, 46 (2002), pp. 256-257 Goering, J. and Pryce. H., 'The De modo confitendi of Cadwgan, bishop of Bangor', Mediaeval Studies, 62 (2000), pp. 1-27 Golding, Brian, 'Trans-border transactions: patterns of patronage in Anglo-Norman Wales', Haskins Society Journal, 16, ed. S. Morillo & D. Korngiebel (Woodbridge, 2006), pp. 27-46 Gray, Madeleine, 'Preface to Cistercians in Wales and the west', Archaeologia Cambrensis, (2007), pp. 17-26 Griffiths, R. A., 'Bridgwater, Oxford and Whitland Abbey in 1491', Studia Celtica, 38 (2004), pp. 125-130 Hogan, Arlene, 'Wales and Ireland: monastic links', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 163-174 James, T., 'A survey of the fishponds, watercourses and other earthworks at the site of Whitland Abbey and iron forge', The Carmarthenshire Antiquary, 14 (1978), pp. 71-78 James, Terrence, 'Carmarthenshire's religious houses: a review of recent archaeological work', The Carmarthenshire Antiquary, 36 (2000), pp. 58-70 Jones, Francis, 'Trefgarn Owen', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 110 (1961), pp. 113-114 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 Kerr, Julie E., Life in the Medieval Cloister (Continuum: London and New York, 2009) pp. 19, 35, 36, 141 Kerr, Julie E., 'Health and safety in the medieval monasteries of Britain', History, 93 (2008), pp. 3-19 Lewis, E. T., Local Heritage From Efailwen to Whitland, 2 vols (V. G. Lodwick & Sons: Carmarthen, 1975) Vol. 1, pp. 64-81 Lloyd, Thomas, Orbach, Julian and Scourfield, Robert, 'Whitland Abbey', in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion Buildings of Wales (Yale University Press: New Haven, 2006), pp. 388-389 Ludlow, N., 'Whitland Abbey, Carmarthenshire: a Cistercian site re-examined, 1994-99', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 151 (2002), pp. 41-108 Ludlow, N. D., 'Whitland Abbey', Archaeology in Wales, 40 (2000), pp. 102-3 Ludlow, N. D., 'Whitland Abbey', Archaeology in Wales, 41 (2001), pp. 142-3 Milner, Joseph, 'Whitland Abbey finds - sketched by Joseph Milner', Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 8:23 vols (1912/1913), p. 38 (facing) O'Sullivan, J. F., Cistercian settlements in Wales and Monmouthshire, 1140-1540, Fordham Univ. Studies, History series, 2 (New York, 1947) pp. 8-10 Pryce, Huw, 'Yr eglwys yn oes yr Arglwydd Rhys [The church in the age of the Lord Rhys]', in Yr Arglwydd Rhys, ed. N. Jones and Huw Pryce (Cardiff, 1996), pp. 145-77 Rees, David, 'Grange and parish of Llanfihangel, Cilfargen', Carmarthenshire Antiquary, 28 (1992), pp. 51-56 Richard, A. J., 'Castles, boroughs and religious houses', in A History of Carmarthen, 1, ed. J. E. Lloyd (Cardiff, 1935) pp. 346-7, 364-8 Robinson, David M., The Cistercians in Wales: Architecture and Archaeology 1130-1540, Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Committee Report (London, 2006) pp. 294-297 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 Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions in Wales and Monmouthshire, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire. Vol. V: County of Carmarthen (HMSO: London, 1917) pp. 151-153 Schlee, Duncan, and Wilson, Hubert, 'Whitland Abbey', Archaeology in Wales, 39 (1999), p. 109 Smallwood, T. M., 'The date of the Gough Map', Imago Mundi, 62 (2010), pp. 3-29 Stephen of Lexington, Stephen of Lexington, Letters from Ireland 1228-1229 (Kalamazoo, 1982) Talbot, C. H., 'Cadogan of Bangor', CÃ®teaux in de Nederlanden, 9 (1958), pp. 18-40 Thomas, William, The Antiquities of Whitland (Llanelly, 1868) 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. 66-68 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, David H., 'The Welsh Cistercians and Ireland', Cistercian Studies, 15 (1980), pp. 17-23 8 On-line sources show online sources (all open in new window) The Cistercians in Yorkshire Project - Whitland (View website) Aerial photograph of Whitland Abbey (View website) Whitland Abbey - ceramic floor tile showing Agnus Dei (View website) Whitland Abbey - floor tile (View website) Whitland Abbey - fragment of floor tile (View website) Pryce, H., Uses of the vernacular in the acts of Welsh rulers, 1120â€“1283 (View website) RCAHMW, Coflein database - Whitland Abbey (View website) Walker, David, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Bishop Bernard of St David's (View website) (Subscription reqd.) Archival sources British Library, 'Agreement between the abbeys of Margam and Llantarnam', (Document), (View website) Exeter Cathedral Library, 'Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales): Cronica ante adventum Domini', (Document), (View website) Exeter Cathedral Library, 'Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales): Cronica de Wallia', (Document), (View website) British Library, 'Counter-seal of Whitland Abbey', (Document), (View website) The National Archives, 'Exchequer, King's Remembrancer Clerical Subsidies - Whitland, 1377', (Document), (View website) The National Archives, , 'Exchequer, King's Remembrancer, Clerical Subsidies- Whitland, 1379', (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 Poll tax return for Whitland, 1377 Poll tax return for Whitland, 1379 Site of the abbey church, Whitland Abbey Site of the east end of the abbey church, Whitland Whitland Abbey Whitland Abbey	Whitland Abbey Carmarthenshire, OS Grid:SN20791816 View site details on COFLEIN (RCAHMW database)[new window]

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