Penally Abbey facts for kids
| Penally Abbey | |
Quick facts for kids  |
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| Hotel facts and statistics | |
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| Location | Penally, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
| Coordinates | 51°39′38″N 4°43′24″W / 51.66056°N 4.72333°W |
| Opening date | 1985 |
| No. of restaurants | 1 |
| No. of rooms | 11 |
| of which suites | 11 |
Penally Abbey is a beautiful old building in Penally, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It used to be a rectory, which is a home for a church leader. Today, it is known as the Penally Abbey Country House Hotel and Restaurant.
This hotel looks out over Carmarthen Bay. It is about 1.5 miles away from the town of Tenby. The hotel has an AA 3-star rating. It was once owned by the famous Jameson family, who make Irish whiskey.
History of Penally Abbey
Not much is left of the very first buildings here. There is a ruined chapel from the 12th century on the grounds. This old chapel is called St. Deniol's church. It even has a special Flemish chimney.
People believe that a monastery was first built at Penally around the 6th century. This was a place where religious people lived and worked together. Famous saints like St Teilo lived here long ago. The site was also a stop for pilgrims traveling to St David's in North Pembrokeshire. A special Celtic Cross, made by pilgrims in the 10th century, can still be seen in the Penally village church.
In 1301, nuns from Aconbury lived in the rectory. For a while, eight nuns and their leader, called a prioress, stayed there. This continued until 1534 during the Dissolution of the monasteries. This was a time when the Church of Wales took control of many religious properties.
The leaders of the church in Penally used the building as their home until the 1820s. Then, a new house for the vicar was built. In the early 1800s, the old ruined chapel became a place for growing ferns. Later, it was used as a Victorian folly, which is a building built just for decoration.
In the early 1900s, Penally Abbey became a private home. The Jameson's Whiskey family lived there from 1916 to 1925. After that, many military people stayed there for several decades. In the 1950s, it was briefly a country club. Finally, in 1985, Penally Abbey was turned into the hotel we see today.
Building Style
Penally Abbey is built using limestone from Pembrokeshire. It has three main buildings and sits on almost 6 acres of land. The building is known for its large gothic windows. These windows have a pointed arch shape, which was popular in older buildings. It also has special doors with ogee-shaped tops. This means the top of the door has a curved, S-like shape.
