The Abbey of Strata Marcella () was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

situated at Ystrad Marchell (''Strata Marcella'' being the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ised form of the Welsh name) on the west bank of the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

near

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

, Powys, Wales.

Founding

The abbey lay within the diocese of

St Asaph St Asaph (; "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population ...

, and the abbey church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was founded in 1170 by

Owain Cyfeiliog Owain ap Gruffydd (c. 1130–1197) was a prince of the southern part of Powys and a poet. He is usually known as Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from other rulers named Owain, particularly his contemporary, Owain ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd, who is ...

Prince of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, as a daughter house of the Abbey at

Whitland Whitland (, , or , , from the medieval ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Geography The Whitland Community (Wales), community is bordered by the communities of: Henllanfallteg; Llanboidy; and Eglwyscummin, a ...

. Within two years the Abbey had moved a short distance to the present site but excavations have found no evidence of any early structures before construction in stone started in 1190 so it is likely the earliest buildings were simple wooden structures. Building work continued until the early 13th century, by which time Strata Marcella had become the largest Cistercian Abbey in Wales. Its

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was 200 feet long. It was monks from Strata Marcella who went to the Vale of

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

in 1200 to found the Abbey of Valle Crucis.

Welsh Independence

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales (; ; ; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He ...

tells of an abbot Enoc (''c''. 1190, possibly the founding abbot), who was guilty of misconduct with a nun and abandoned the habit. When advanced in years, Prince Owain retired to the monastery and took the habit of the Cistercian monks. On his death, in 1197, he was buried in the grounds of the abbey. His son

Gwenwynwyn Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog (died c. 1216) was the last major ruler of mid Wales before the completion of the Norman English invasion. He was one of few native rulers to represent a real threat to the rule of Llywelyn the Great. Lineage Gwenwy ...

(''ob''. 1216) took over lordship of the abbey and increased its endowments; 45 charters, many from the Wynnstay Estate Archives, survive in the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

and elsewhere recording such benefactions to the Abbey, and it became a religious house of wealth and importance. Owain's son Gruffyd ap Gwenwynwyn, lord of Powys, entered a monastery when he was close to death about 1260, but recovered during his stay; it is thought that this abbey was Strata Marcella, which was near his seat at Pool. Strata Marcella was one of a number of Cistercian abbeys founded by Welsh princes which were independent of the Norman-founded abbeys in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. As such they tended to support the Welsh princes in their struggles against King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

and the

Marcher Lord A marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...

s. Because of this the Abbey suffered much damage during the Welsh wars of independence, and by the fourteenth century was in a state of poverty. In 1332, the local feudal lord, John de Cherleton, accused the abbot and monks of working against English rule in Wales; he evicted all the Welsh monks, sending them to English houses, and replacing them with English monks from

Buildwas Abbey Buildwas Abbey was a Cistercian (originally Congregation of Savigny, Savigniac) monastery located on the banks of the River Severn, at Buildwas in Shropshire, England - today about west of Ironbridge. Founded by the local bishop in 1135, it was ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

Owain Glyndŵr

During the

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...

rising at the beginning of the 15th century the buildings were heavily damaged and the monastery never completely recovered.

The Dissolution

The abbey was finally closed in 1536 at the dissolution of the monasteries in England and Wales, when its income was valued at no more than £64 a year. At that time there were only four monks at the abbey and Edward Grey, the third Baron Grey of Powis, had already purchased the site and had removed everything of value. The stone from the buildings was sold and used to build several local churches, including a capital in the church of All Saints at Buttington. Today the only visible remains are a few courses of stones from the church and

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

in a meadow beside the infant

Excavations

The site was excavated in 1890 by Stephen W. Williams for the Powysland Club. The church had an overall length of 273 feet, with an aisled

201 feet long, transepts were 96 feet long with a short rectangular chancel, and a 30 ft square tower at the crossing. The long period of building was from c. 1190 till the early C14. There were buttresses, including clasping buttresses at the west end. The red sandstone columns of the ten-bay nave had the Early English pattern of shafts clustered on piers. Transitional and stiff-leaf capitals of great beauty reflect the sculptural developments between c. 1190 and c. 1210. Much of this space was occupied by two monks' choirs. It seems that the elaborate doorway to one of these may have been the original west doorway. Pier stones with 14th century wavy mouldings were found on the site of the tower. The cloister on the south was not excavated.Williams S. (1891), (with Jones M C), ''Excavations on the site of Strata Marcella Abbey'', Montgomeryshire Collections, Vol 25 Finds, including 13th century tiles and stone fragments, are in the Powysland Museum, Welshpool. Recently, the site of Strata Marcella has been resurveyed by Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and this has modified some of Stephen Williams' findings.

Literature

* Silvester, R. J., Hankinson, R., Owen, W. and Jones, N. (2011) ''Medieval and Early Post-Medieval Monastic and Ecclesiastical Sites in East and North-East Wales:The Scheduling Enhancement Programme''. Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust Report No 1090. *Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013) ''The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire'', Yale University Press. *Thomas C. G. (ed), (1997) ''The charters of the Abbey of Ystrad Marchell''. Aberystwyth : The National Library of Wales. * Williams, D. H. (1992). ''An Appreciation of Stephen William Williams'', Montgomeryshire Collections, Vol 80, 55–94 * Williams, D. H.(1995).''The Exploration and Excavation of Cistercian Sites in Wales'', Archaeologia Cambrensis, Vol 144, 1–25 * Williams, D. H. (2001). ''The Welsh Cistercians: written to commemorate the centenary of the death of Stephen William Williams (1837–1899)'', (The father of Cistercian archaeology in Wales). Gracewing Publishing. . . *Williams S. (1891), (with Jones M C), ''Excavations on the site of Strata Marcella Abbey'',Montgomeryshire Collections, Vol 25.

References

External links

* Survey of site by CPAT 201
CPAT Spring 2012 Newsletter
* Survey of site by CPAT 201
CPAT Autumn 2012 NewsletterThe Cistercians in Yorkshire'House of Cistercian monks: Abbey of Buildwas', A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2 (1973), pp. 50-9.
{{Authority control Cistercian monasteries in Wales History of Powys Buildings and structures in Powys 1170 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 1170s 1536 disestablishments in Wales 12th-century establishments in Wales