Talley Abbey's history as Wales' only Premonstratensian Abbey

Talley Abbey was founded in the 1180s by Rhys ap Gruffydd, commonly known as The Lord Rhys who ruled the old kingdom of Deheubarth between 1155 and 1197.

He founded the abbey for the Premonstratensian monks. It was the only one of the 35 abbeys held by the monks to be in Wales.

The Order of the Premonstratensians was founded in 1120 by St Norbert of Xanten and had a rule and lifestyle based on the Cistercian indications, including cultivation of land and farming, with the help of subordinate granges.

Known as the White Canons because of the colour of their habit, the Premonstratensians would perform duties in the parish, something which separated them from the Cistercians. The religious sect became widely popular across western Europe during the mid to late 12th century.

It is not fully known why the Lord Rhys set up the abbey for the monks, but it is believed he may have been influenced by Ranulf de Glanville, the justiciar of King Henry II, who supported the Order of Premonstratensians and is known to have had close ties to Rhys during the Welsh-English peace time in the late 12th century.

The abbey was set in a picturesque area, with two reservoirs to the north and the monks were brought over from Amiens in northeastern France.

The church was planned to be on a cruciform plan as a three-aisle, eight-bay basilica. It was 73 metres long with two transepts, east rectangular chancel, and a tower at the crossing.

This was not completed and instead only the chancel, north and south transepts and the tower were built.

There was a narrow portal in the west façade which led to the church and inside the walls were plastered and covered with polychromes according to research by medievalheritage.eu. It is believed some of the windows were glazed with stained glass and the floors were partly formed of decorative tiles.

The four-sided inter-nave pillars had no decorations and one eastern one received straight moulded corners.

Two southern portals led from the nave to the cloister. A quadrilateral tower was built around 29 metres tall which was over the stalls and the ogival arcade in the east opened to a presbytery which was enclosed by a straight wall, with three tall lancet windows placed between the outer pilaster stripes.

There were two portals in the southern wall of the presbytery, with one leading to the southern chapel and the second to the church sacristy.

The transept had arcades leading to six chapels which housed altars for monks to celebrate private masses and thanksgiving ceremonies. These had pointed barrel vaults.

The southern chapel was stood out and equipped with a piscina and on the northern wall of the transept, there was a portal which led outside, to what is believed to be a church cemetery.

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Talley Abbey remains. Picture: Wendy Stephens

There were buildings south of the church and the inner courtyard was surrounded by open arcades of the cloister. The exact location of the buildings including the living quarters is not known due to the lack of records and lack of remains.

It is also not fully known why no other Premonstratensian abbeys in Wales, but it is believed that the resumption of wars and the fall of Ranulph could have played a part in this. It is also believed that this could also have played a part in why Talley was poorly funded.

Despite funding from the Lord Rhys and his descendants over the years including lands in Talley, Ceredigion, Gwent and Gower, the abbey was never fully completed and struggled financially. The monastery became the final resting place for Rhys Fychan, grandson of The Lord Rhys, who was buried there in 1271.

The monastery suffered physically as well as financially due to the ties with the Welsh royalty.

In 1277, losses and destructions were recorded during King Edward I’s anti-Welsh campaign and the monastery became the property of the royals, with it being run by the English Premonstratensian abbots. The local Welsh origin monks and prince Rhys ap Maredudd’s patronage of the abbey was growing due to the dislike of King Edward I and in 1285, the abbey was put under the supervision of the English Abbey of Welbeck in Nottinghamshire.

It was later passed on to Halesowen Abbey in Worcestershire. But it is believed that the English supervision was not effective because of the remoteness and isolation of Talley.

The nave of the abbey was never completed due to a lack of funds, which was most likely

Hindered by a long dispute with the Cistercian abbey in Whitland.

Poor management also played a part in the suffering of the abbey and the monks residing within, particularly towards the end of the 13th and into the 14th century. During this period, the ongoing ‘supervision’ from the English abbots and the Whitland dispute were also contributing to this financial issue.

The monastery was also hindered further by the black death epidemic between 1346 and 1353, which saw a decline in the number of monks and workers and therefore also income.

The worst of the physical damage to the abbey came during the Owain Glyndwr uprising in the early 1400s. The English army looted and burned the buildings.

In 1427, Mathew ap Llywelyn Ddu – a canon from Talley – was being hunted on treason charges, long after the rebellion had been quashed. Three years later, Dafydd, the abbot at the monastery, turned to the king to ask for protection for the third time.

The monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1536 as part of his dissolution of the monasteries across England and Wales.

When the monastery was dissolved, it had an annual income of £136, which was much below the required £200.

Over the years following the dissolution, local residents demolished most of the monastery’s buildings to use as building materials.

The chancel of the monastery church, however, was used as a parish church until 1772.

Currently, all that remains of the abbey is two walls of the tower, a fragment of the transept and the foundations of the remaining parts of the church.

There is remains of the enclosure of monastery buildings but only the outline of the cloister foundations and a small part of the west range are visible.

Cadw cares for the ruins and visitors are welcome to visit.