Site details: Kidwelly - 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: Kidwelly (Priory) also known as: Cydweli; Cadwell Order: Benedictine Kidwelly was founded by Bishop Roger of Salisbury as a cell of Sherborne (priory, later abbey). It also served as the parish church with the laity occupying the nave and the monks the east end. In the later Middle Ages the church may have attracted pilgrims wishing to see the life-sized alabaster statue of the Virgin and child that stood in a recess on the south wall of the chancel. show more... Standing remains The priory church now survives as the parish church of St Mary's. Most of the surviving medieval fabric is fourteenth-century and includes a triple sedilia and piscina. Read more. Dedicated to: St Mary Medieval Diocese: St David's Affiliated to: Sherborne (dependency of) Lordship at foundation: Kidwelly Access: Parish church is open to public Owned by: Representative Body of the Church in Wales Main events in the history of this site c.1110: Foundation - Kidwelly was founded as a cell of Sherborne Abbey, which was at that time a cathedral priory. [2 sources] c.1135: Patronage - When the lordship of Kidwelly passed to Maurice of London he supplemented Sherborne's endowment at Kidwelly. [1 source] 1223: Destruction - The priory was burnt to the ground by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. [1 source] c.1268: Patronage - At this time Payne de Chaworth was patron of the house. 1284: Visitation - Archbishop Pecham conducted a visitation of the house following Edward I’s conquest. [1 source] c.1291: Wealth - The priory's wealth, according to the Taxatio compiled for Pope Nicholas IV c. 1291, was £16. [3 sources] 1377: Poll tax - Only the prior is listed. [1 source][1 archive] 1379: Poll tax - Only the prior is listed. [1 source][1 archive] 1403: Destruction - The area was devastated during the Glyn Dŵr rebellion. [1 source] 1481: Destruction - The church was struck by lightning. [1 source] 1534: Act of Supremacy - Prior John Godmyston and his monk companion, Augustine Green, took the Oath of Supremacy. [3 sources] c.1535: Wealth - The Valor Eccelsiasticus records the gross annual income of the house as £38. [2 sources][1 archive] 1539: Dissolution - As a dependency of Sherborne Abbey, Kidwelly was spared from suppression in 1536 and dissolved with its mother-house in 1539. [2 sources] + 11 minor events. Show minor events People associated with this site Payne de Chaworth , lord of Kidwelly (patron) Priors of Kidwelly Roger le Poer , bishop of Salisbury (founder) 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) p. 92 'The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales III, 1377-1540' ed.David M. Smith(Cambridge 2008) pp. 124-5; 713 'The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales II, 1216-1377' ed.David M. Smith and Vera London(Cambridge 2001) p. 115 'Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales' ed.R. Neville Hadcock and David Knowles(Harlow 1971) pp. 55, 68 '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, pp. 63-67 Clark, G. T., 'Kidwelly Castle' Archaeologia Cambrensis 7 (1852) pp.1-20 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) James, Terrence, 'Carmarthenshire's religious houses : a review of recent archaeological work' The Carmarthenshire Antiquary 36 (2000) pp.58-70 Jones, D. Daven, 'History of Kidwelly' (Carmathen 1908) Morris, W. H., 'A Kidwelly town rental of the early sixteenth century' Carmarthen Antiquary 11 (1975) pp.55-87 Morris, W. H., 'Cydweli (Kidwelly) and the Glyn Dŵr revolt' The Carmarthenshire Antiquary 3 (1959) pp. 4-16 Smallwood, T. M., 'The date of the Gough Map' Imago Mundi 62 (2010) pp.3–29 Williams, G., 'Kidwelly Priory' Sir Gâr: Studies in Carmarthenshire History: Essays in Memory of W. H. Morris and M. C. S. Evans Monograph series 4 ed.Heather James(Carmathen 1991) pp.189-204 5 On-line sources show online sources (all open in new window) Dugdale, Monasticon online - Kidwelly (View website) St Mary's Church, Kidwelly (Coflein database) (View website) Kemp, Brian, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online - Roger of Salisbury (View website) (Subscription reqd.) RCAMSW, Image of fourteenth-century sedilia, St Mary's parish church, Kidwelly (View website) Williams, Glanmor, Kidwelly Priory (View website) Archival sources The National Archives, 'Exchequer, King's Remembrancer Clerical Subsidies - Kidwelly 1377', (Document), (View website) The National Archives, 'Exchequer, King's Remembrancer Clerical Subsidies - Kidwelly 1379', (Document), (View website) Related articles on Monastic Wales Remnants of Kidwelly Priory, Who were the Benedictines?, Professor Janet Burton Images of this site Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Kidwelly Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Kidwelly Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Kidwelly Interior of the Church of St Mary, Kidwelly Priory Church of St Mary, Kidwelly Priory Church of St Mary, Kidwelly	Exterior of the Church of St Mary, Kidwelly Dyfed, OS Grid:SN4084106750 View site details on COFLEIN (RCAHMW database)[new window]

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