Cardigan Priory (formally: The Priory Church of Our Lady of Cardigan; alternative: Cardigan Cell) was a Benedictine

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

located in Cardigan,

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. C ...

, mid-west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Its church survives as a parish church,

St. Mary's Church, Cardigan St Mary's Church is an Anglican church located in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. In 1428, with the disappearance of Holy Trinity Church, St Mary's formally became the parish church of Cardigan, but it continued to serve as a priory church un ...

, whereas the priory itself was a separate building.

History

Documents preserved at

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to ...

state that

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the England, English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the s ...

misappropriated, and was later compelled to yield up, the Church of the Holy Trinity at Cardigan which had been granted to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

by Gilbert de Clare previous to the establishment of the

. The ''

Brut y Tywysogion ''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Brut ...

'' states that De Clare granted Cardigan Priory to the

Gloucester Abbey Gloucester Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in the city of Gloucester, England. Since 1541 it has been Gloucester Cathedral. History Early period A Christian place of worship had stood on the abbey site since Anglo-Saxon times. Around 681, with ...

prior to his death in or before 1117. Around 1164,

Rhys ap Gruffydd Rhys ap Gruffydd, commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh ''Yr Arglwydd Rhys'' (c. 1132 – 28 April 1197) was the ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197 and native Prince of Wales. It was believed that he ...

, Prince of

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, conquered Cardigan and brought it again under Welsh rule, and by a grant confirmed the gift of the then existing priory of Cardigan to the Benedictines of

in Surrey. During the Clares' time, it was dedicated to the Trinity; in Rhys's time, it was dedicated to St. Mary. The priory was dissolved in 1538 after which time it was converted into a mansion and granted to

Bisham Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. The village is on the River Thames, around south of Marlow in the neighbouring county of Buckinghamshire, and around northwest of Maide ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, and subsequently to William and Mary Cavendish (1539/40). In the mid 17th century Cardigan Priory was the favoured home of

Katherine Philips Katherine or Catherine Philips (1 January 1631/2 – 22 June 1664), also known as "The Matchless Orinda", was an Anglo-Welsh royalist poet, translator, and woman of letters. She achieved renown as a translator of Pierre Corneille's '' Pompée'' ...

, known as "The Matchless Orinda". In 1922 it was re-opened by Dame

Margaret Lloyd George Dame Margaret Lloyd George (; 4 November 1864 – 20 January 1941) was a Welsh humanitarian and one of the first seven women magistrates appointed in Britain in 1919. She was the wife of Prime Minister David Lloyd George from 1888 until her deat ...

as the Cardigan District and Memorial Hospital.

Grounds

The priory was set on 200 acres which adjoined

Cardigan Castle Cardigan Castle ( cy, Castell Aberteifi) is a castle overlooking the River Teifi in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle dates from the late 11th-century, though was rebuilt in 1244. Castle Green House was b ...

. The grounds and buildings extended along the

River Teifi , name_etymology = , image = File:Llyn Teifi - geograph.org.uk - 41773.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Llyn Teifi, the source of the Teifi , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

. The

Bishops of St Davids A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

lived in one of the buildings when they visited Cardigan, which may have coincided with problems noted by the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

of Chertsey in 1433/4. In a 1599 map, the priory church is represented as cruciform in shape, while in Blaeu's map of 1646, the cruciform includes an adjoined chapel, probably the

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

chapel of Sir John ap Jevan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardigan Priory 1110 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1538 disestablishments Christian monasteries in Wales Buildings and structures in Ceredigion 12th-century establishments in Wales 1530s disestablishments in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Ceredigion