Google Earth Community: Benedictine Monasteries and Abbeys in Wales

The Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny is a church in the centre of the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales in the United Kingdom. It was originally the church of the Benedictine Priory established under Hamelin de Balon the first Norman holder of the title Lord Abergavenny or later Baron Bergavenny in the 1090s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priory_Church_of_St_Mary,_Abergavenny

http://www.stmarys-priory.org/

The Cathedral was, until the establishment of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in 1923, the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist. A Norman Benedictine Priory was founded on the site in 1093 and this became the Parish Church in the 16 th century at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. Because of the nature and type of its location it is thought that the Norman Priory might have been built on the site of an older, possibly Celtic, church.Caldey Island lies about 3 miles off the south coast of Pembrokeshire facing the town and harbour of Tenby. it is 1½ miles long and less that ¾ mile wide.

In 1131 the island was donated to the Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Tiron in France. In 1536 the monks were expelled from the island and it was not until 1906 that an Anglican Benedictine brotherhood bought the island and erected the present monastery. In the early 1920's it was sold to the Order of the Reformed Cistercians.

On the summit of the island, not far from the old Priory, stands the lighthouse which was erected by Trinity House in 1829 at a cost of £3,380 11s 7d. On either side of the tower and connected to it are two dwellings which were occupied by the keepers and their families prior to the conversion of the station to automatic unmanned operation in 1927.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldey_Island

http://www.caldey-island.co.uk/monks.htm

St Illtyd's Priory on Caldey Island.

http://www.caldey-island.co.uk/monks.htm

Founded about 1115 for a prior and 12 monks of the order of Tiron, St Dogmaels occupied the site of a pre-Norman monastery. It was raised to the status of abbey in 1120, and the monks followed an austere life based on the rule of St Benedict. The surviving ruins span four centuries of monastic life and show much alteration. Parts of the church and cloister are 12th century. However, the west and north walls of the nave, which stand almost to their full height, are of the 13th century, and a fine north doorway has 14th-century ballflower ornament. The north transept is Tudor, retaining elaborate corbels which supported the stone vaulting. Notice here the carved figures with an angel representing St Matthew, a lion for St Mark and the Archangel Michael. The footings of the chapter house can be seen to the west of the cloister, with the adjacent monk's infirmary standing almost to roof level. At the Dissolution, the church continued to be used for a time by the parish, and a rectory was built into the southwest corner of the cloister.The Benedictine priory was founded following the building of the castle in 1068. The five western bays survived to become a parish church that was added to in 1841. A Norman nave with simple arcades and the late Norman west front survive.Ewenny Priory, in Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, was a monastery of the Benedictine order, founded in the 12th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewenny_Priory

http://www.ewenny.org.uk/

Built in c1320 as a Benedictine Priory before the Reformation. The simple tower with its graceful spire is deemed to be the most outstanding architectural feature of the whole structure. An effigy of the Madonna and the Infant Saviour fashioned from white alabaster was originally sited in the niche behind the pulpit - a fine example of 14th. Century art. In the late 19th. Century parishioners continued to genuflect before their Patron Saint and this proved to annoy the incumbent vicar. He promptly removed the effigy and disposed of it in secret in the Churchyard. Public opinion however, compelled him to restore it. It can now be seen on a corbel on the east wall of the church.In 1436 Henry VII was born in Pembroke Castle and as a boy he went to the Priory to be brought up and educated by the Benedictine Monks. He remained here until his teens. When Cromwell besieged Pembroke Castle in 1648, he placed a battery of cannon at Monkton, some say in the paddock alongside the present vicarage. The then curate in charge refused to leave his home and preferred to risk the dangers and noise. After the siege he was invited by Cromwell to preach to the Officers of his army.

After the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the condition of the Priory Church gradually deteriorated until there remained only the long narrow nave, which was the old place of worship for the parishioners. The choir and sanctuary became a roofless ruin. The large west window was lost and the beautiful geometric windows on the north side were blocked up (two still remain blocked). The arch where the lectern and pulpit now stand was bricked up and the rich canopied tomb of Purbeck marble (early 16th century) was placed against the wall. This tomb is now in the North wall of the sanctuary.

http://www.revjones.fsnet.co.uk/monkton/monkton.html

A small Benedictine nunnery. The shrine of St. Radegund was a place of pilgrimage. The Norman central tower remains, and below it is the chancel of the parish church. The nave and north aisle are 14th century, and there is a 15th century traceried screen and porches. Only the gatehouse remains of the domestic buildings.

Edited by littlegreenman (05/06/08 05:15 AM)