The history of Whitland Abbey through the centuries

Unfortunately for historians, many of the old monasteries that were around Wales as in the rest of the UK have been almost completely destroyed, with some only having minimal remains left.

This includes Whitland Abbey in Carmarthenshire which has a rich history that we will explore today.

The abbey is initially founded by Cistercian monks from Clairvaux on September 16, 1140, at the invitation of Bernard, the bishop of St. David’s.

It is not known where the initial abbey was located but it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Four years later, a new site was established but this is also unknown.

The abbey moves to the permanent location in Whitland around 1151, following the death of Bernard.

Medieval documents have the abbey under the names of Alba Landa, Blanchland and Ty Gwyn ar Tafin.

The abbey church was believed to be built in 1151 and the abbey was most likely completed by 1155. The foundation charter in 1214 stated the abbey and the surrounding lands were granted by Devon magnate John Torrington, who was also constable of Pembroke and Carmarthen castles in 1199 and 1200. It is believed that the original donor was his father of the same name or that he gave a retrospective grant of the land.

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Whitland’s monks founded Welsh daughter houses at Strata Florida, Strata Marcella, Cwmhir, Comber and Tracton as well as Llantarnam, Aberconwy, Cymer and Valle Crucis between 1164 and 1225.

Patronage of the abbey went to Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord Rhys, after 1165. The Lord Rhys had already founded a Premonstratensian abbey at Talley in Carmarthenshire – which would later enter into a dispute with Whitland. He was an instrumental part in the appointment of Cynan, who was the first of the Welsh abbots at Whitland and it became the venue of homage to Henry II in 1171, showcasing how important the abbey was.

What the monastery would have looked like

In 1186, the abbey began to be used as a mausoleum for Welsh royal patrons, with Cadwaladr and Maredudd being buried there. Maredudd was a Whitland monk for a number of years until his 1239 death. It is believed that in the latter part of the 12th century, there were more than 100 monks at Whitland Abbey, including lay brothers.

In 1188, the abbey was used as accommodation for Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury and Gerald of Wales during the preaching of the third crusade. Abbots would stop at Whitland Abbey during their journey from Ireland to the general chapter at Citeaux, which led to the monks complaining about the burden of hospitality in 1220.

The abbey was thrown into the 13th century wars in 1247 after failing to resolve the allegiances between a remote king and his Anglo-Norman barons and the Welsh aristocracy.

During this period, a number of the monks were beaten and their servants killed in the cemetery by a group of knights led by Patrick de Chaworth, lord of Kidwelly and Nicholas FitzMartin, lord of Cemaes.

In 1258, the abbey was plundered by royalists and more servants were killed. A decade later, the abbey was given royal protection as it changed allegiance to support the English crown. The Lord Rhys’ grandson Maredudd ap Rhys Gryg was buried at the front steps of the high altar in 1271, and three years later, Whitland changed its allegiance from supporting Llywelyn ap Gruffudd to supporting the English crown.

The abbey, still in allegiance with the crown, was singled out in 1280, when the abbey woods and the woods belonging to the Lord Rhys’ grandsons were cut down under royal supervision as they were accused of harbouring rebels.

In 1291, the abbey was seeking compensation for war damages.

The abbey also housed King Edward I on June 5, 1295.

In 1320, Whitland’s abbot decided to break tradition and be governed by English custom rather than Welsh. Shortly after this, the black death plague contributed to an economic decline for the abbey.

As the Glyndwr Uprising began, the abbey faced punitive measures from the crown as in 1403, the abbot was branded a rebel and said to have been in support of Owain Glyndwr.

In 1433, David ap Rhys, the abbot at the monastery, was charged in the treason of Henry V’s brother Humphrey Plantagenet. There was a brief period where the abbey possessions were seized but they were returned when he was pardoned.

In 1491, the abbot was disposed for ‘moral laxity and illicit contracts’ and five years later a secular priest was murdered in the cloister by a Neath Abbey monk.

Whitland Abbey was dissolved in 1536 by King Henry VIII as it was earning an annual income of less than £200 but was reformed in April the following year by the ‘will of King Henry VIII’ although two years later it is voluntarily surrendered.

In 1545, the site was leased to Dr. John Vaughan for 11 15. 0d. Sir John Perrot – who had made repeated attempts, as did Vaughan, to acquire abbey possessions and holdings – used some of the abbey’s finer stones for his Laugharne Castle residence as well as other local buildings.

At the start of the 17th century, the abbey estate is in the hands of the Brett family of London and in 1636, George Mynne established an ironworks at the abbey and by 1638, it was operational and being managed by his agent William Rutland. The forge supplied cannon shot for Oliver Cromwell’s siege of Pembroke in 1648 and it remains operational under Rutland until sometime in the 1650s.

In 1772, the forge is leased to Peter Chetle, who sells his interest to Lewis Hughes of Carmarthen just five years later.

In 1789, John Morgan got the lease of Whitland Forge.

It seems that over time, the site of Whitland Abbey was forgotten about until the early 1900s when the landowner is said to have found the site on draining a large lake.

An excavation was carried out in 1929, and the following year CADW names Whitland Abbey as a designated scheduled monument in December 1930. CADW names the remains and the garden walls to the south as a listed building in 1966 and two decades later, the owner proposed to sell the land. A feasibility study was carried out and the management plan was shelved. This allowed for some of the site to be privately owned, including by the Menevia Diocese.

In the 1990s, there was a lot of interest in the site, with the Carmarthen District Council signing a 21-year lease in 1993 for the area owned by the Menevia Diocese after interest by the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and the following year, the council provided funding for an evaluation excavation by Cambria Archaeology and Trinity College Carmarthen, which was then carried out in 1995.

The following year, site consolidation work was carried out and the area was opened to the public.

In 2014, the lease lapsed and management was reverted to Menevia Diocese and in 2019, Whitland Town Council took on a 25-year lease and began work to bring the site back to how it looked in 1996 after the work done then.

The lease was handed back to the diocese in 2021 before Cymdeithas Genedlaethol Hywel Dda. Volunteers also started more work to make the site more attractive and raise awareness of the abbey.

The abbey is now only visible in ruins and is accessible to the public at all times. You can find out more at http://whitlandabbey.wales/