Margam was founded by Robert, earl of Gloucester and lord of Glamorgan, and was one of the first Cistercian abbeys in Wales. It remained largely an Anglo-Norman house throughout its history. In the later Middle Ages the abbey was a vibrant centre of patronage of the bards.
Margam is today regarded as one of the most important houses of the Order in Wales, both from an architectural and historical standpoint. Indeed, the Margam archive is one of the most complete of any medieval abbey in Great Britain.
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'Impression from the second common seal of Margam Abbey, mid-14th century until 1536' (c. 1350xc1536)
'The patent rolls of Richard III: licence to William, abbot of Margam monastery, to exchange lands, etc., with Richard, abbot of Tewkesbury Monastery', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 4th series, 13:49 (1882), pp. 73-4
'[Margam Abbey]', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 5th series, 3:12 (1886), pp. 330-333
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'Excursion to Margam and Neath Abbey', Gentleman's Magazine, new series, 11 (1861), pp. 392-393
Llandaff Episcopal Acta 1140-1287, Publications of the South Wales Record Society, 5, ed. David Crouch (South Wales Record Society: Cardiff, 1988)
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Cartae et alia munimenta quae ad dominium de Glamorgancia pertinent, 6 vols, ed. G. T. Clark, revised G. L. Clark (Cardiff, 1910)
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'Annales Marganenses', in Historiae Anglicanae Scriptores Quinque II ed. T. Gale (Oxford, 1687), pp. 1-19
Memorials of the See and Cathedral of Llandaff. Derived from the Liber Landavensis, original documents in the British Museum, H.M. Record Office, the Margam muniments, etc, ed. Walter de Gray Birch (Neath, 1912)
A descriptive catalogue of the Penrice and Margam abbey manuscripts in the possession of Miss Talbot of Margam, 6 vols, ed. Walter de Gray Birch and Emily Talbot (Privately printed: London, 1893-1905)
Adams, Alun, 'The Restoration of the Margam Heraldic Stained Glass', Port Talbot Historian, 4: 3 (2005), pp. 47-52
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Clark, G. T., 'Contributions Towards a Cartulary of Margam', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 3rd series, 13:52 (1867), pp. 311-334
Colker, Marvin L., 'The "Margam chronicle" in a Dublin manuscript', Haskins Society Journal, 4 (1993), pp. 123-148
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Cowley, F. G., 'The Cistercian economy in Glamorgan, 1130-1349', Morgannwg, 11 (1967), pp. 5-26
Cowley, F. G., 'A Note on the Extant List of Books in Margam Abbey’s Theological Library', Morgannwg, 50 (2006), pp. 242-247
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Griffiths, Matthew, 'Native society on the Anglo-Norman frontier: the evidence of the Margam charters', Welsh History Review, 14 (1988), pp. 179-216
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