Tintern Abbey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tintern Abbey |
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| Native name Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn |
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| Type | Abbey |
| Location | Tintern, Monmouthshire |
| Built | 1131 |
| Governing body | Cadw |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name: Abbey Church of St Mary (Tintern Abbey) including monastic buildings | |
| Designated | 29 September 2000 |
| Reference no. | 24037 |
| Official name: Tintern Abbey inner precinct | |
| Reference no. | MM102 |
| Official name: Tintern Abbey watergate | |
| Designated | 15 July 1998 |
| Reference no. | MM265 |
| Official name: Tintern Abbey precinct wall | |
| Reference no. | MM157 |
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Tintern Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn) is a famous old building in Wales. It was started on May 9, 1131, by Walter de Clare. He was a powerful lord from Chepstow. The Abbey is next to the village of Tintern, right by the River Wye. This river forms the border between Wales and England here. Tintern Abbey was the very first Cistercian monastery in Wales. It was only the second one in all of Britain.
The Abbey became a ruin after King Henry VIII closed down monasteries in the 1500s. But people have loved its ruins for a long time. Artists and poets have featured it since the 1700s. Today, a group called Cadw looks after the Abbey. About 70,000 people visit Tintern Abbey every year!
Contents
The Story of Tintern Abbey
Ancient Tales of Tintern
There's an old story about Tewdrig, a king from long ago. He was the King of Glywysing. The story says he retired to a quiet place above the river in Tintern. He then came out of retirement to lead his son's army. They won a battle against the Saxons at Pont-y-Saeson. Sadly, King Tewdrig was killed in this battle.
Who Were the Cistercians?
The Cistercian Order was started in 1098. They were a special group of monks. They wanted to live a very simple life. They followed strict rules from Saint Benedict. Cistercians built their abbeys away from towns. They believed in "pray and work." This meant monks prayed and also did manual labor.
The Cistercian Order became very popular. By 1151, there were 500 Cistercian monasteries in Europe. Their rules included obedience, poverty, and silence. They were one of the most successful groups of monks. The Abbey's land was used for farming. Local people worked on these farms. They also provided services to the Abbey.
The first Cistercian monks came to England in 1128. This was at Waverley Abbey. Walter de Clare started Tintern Abbey in 1131. This was the second Cistercian house in Britain. It was the first one in Wales. The monks at Tintern came from France. Later, Tintern Abbey started two more monasteries. One was Kingswood Abbey in England. The other was Tintern Parva in Ireland.
Building and Changing Through Time
The Tintern Abbey you see today was built over 400 years. This was between 1131 and 1536. Not much is left from the very first buildings. Some old walls are part of newer structures. Two small cupboards for books are also from this early time. The first church was smaller than the one we see now. It was also a bit further north.
Most of the Abbey was rebuilt in the 1200s. They started with the cloisters and living areas. Then they built the great church. This church was built between 1269 and 1301. The first church service in the new part happened in 1288. The whole building was officially opened in 1301. But building work kept going for many years.
Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk helped a lot with the rebuilding. He was the lord of Chepstow. His family's symbol was put in the Abbey's east window. This was to thank him for his help.
The large church you see today is a great example of Decorated Gothic style. It has a cross shape when viewed from above. It is built from Old Red Sandstone. The stone colors range from purple to grey. The church is 228 feet long. The transept (the arms of the cross) is 150 feet long.
King Edward II stayed at Tintern in 1326. The Black Death arrived in 1349. This made it hard to find new workers for the Abbey. Many farms were rented out instead of being worked by monks. In the early 1400s, Tintern had money problems. This was partly because of the Glyndŵr Rising. This was a Welsh uprising against the English. Some Abbey properties were destroyed.
The Abbey Becomes a Ruin
King Henry VIII closed all monasteries in England, Wales, and Ireland. This was called the Dissolution of the Monasteries. On September 3, 1536, Abbot Wych gave Tintern Abbey to the King. This ended 400 years of monastic life. Valuable items from the Abbey were sent to the King's treasury. Abbot Wych received a pension.
The Abbey building was given to Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester. The lead from the roof was sold. This started the decay of the buildings.
Exploring the Abbey's Design
Let's look at the different parts of Tintern Abbey.
The Main Church Building
The front of the church, facing west, was finished around 1300. It has a large window with seven sections.
The nave is the main part of the church. It has six sections. It used to have arches on both the north and south sides.
Monks' Choir and Presbytery
The presbytery is where the main altar was. It has four sections. There was a huge east window. Most of its stone patterns are gone now.
The Cloister
The cloister is a covered walkway. It kept its original width. But its length was made longer in the 1200s. This made it almost a square shape.
Book Room and Sacristy
The book room and sacristy were built around 1300. They were added at the very end of the second abbey's construction.
Chapter House
The chapter house was where monks met every day. They talked about Abbey business. They also confessed and listened to readings from their rules.
Monks' Dormitory and Latrine
The monks' dormitory was on the upper floor. It took up almost the whole east side. The latrines (toilets) had two floors. Monks could reach them from the dormitory or the room below.
Refectory
The refectory was the dining hall. It was built in the early 1200s. It replaced an older dining hall.
Kitchen
Not much is left of the kitchen. It served food for both the monks and the lay brothers.
Lay Brothers' Dormitory
The lay brothers' dormitory was above their dining hall. It has been completely destroyed.
Infirmary
The infirmary was for sick and elderly monks. It was 107 feet long and 54 feet wide. Monks stayed in small rooms called cubicles. These rooms were later enclosed and given fireplaces.
Abbot's Residence
The abbot's home was built in two stages. It started in the early 1200s. It was greatly expanded in the late 1300s.
Tintern and Industry
After the Abbey closed, the area became industrial. The first wireworks started in 1568. More factories and furnaces were built nearby. People made charcoal in the woods to fuel these operations. They also quarried stone from the hillside. This stone was used to make lime. The Abbey area became quite polluted. Local workers even lived in the ruins.
Not everyone was bothered by the industry. Some visitors painted the factories. An old print from 1799 shows a boat landing near the ruins. It also shows smoke rising from a lime kiln. Even famous painters like William Havell showed smoke in their valley views.
Tintern Abbey for Visitors
Early Tourism: 1700s and 1800s
By the mid-1700s, visiting "wilder" parts of the country became popular. The Wye Valley was known for its beautiful views. Tintern Abbey, covered in ivy, was a favorite spot for tourists. One of the first pictures of the Abbey was made in 1732.
A priest named Dr. John Egerton started taking friends on boat trips down the Wye. This is thought to be the start of the "Wye Tour." Another priest, Rev. Dr. Sneyd Davies, wrote a poem about his trip to Tintern Abbey in 1745.
Francis Grose visited the Abbey in the 1770s. He wrote about it in his book. He noticed that the ruins were being tidied up for tourists. He said the fallen stones were piled up neatly. But he also felt the site was too neat. It lacked the "gloomy solemnity" he expected from ruins.
Another visitor was Rev. William Gilpin. He published a book about his tour in 1782. He also drew sketches of the Abbey. Even with poor people living nearby, he found the Abbey "very enchanting." Gilpin's book helped make the Wye tour even more popular. It also encouraged people to sketch and paint.
Guidebooks for tourists started to appear. Charles Heath published Descriptive Accounts of Tintern Abbey in 1793. It was sold at the Abbey and nearby towns. This book was updated many times. Later, Taylor's Illustrated Guide to the Banks of the Wye came out in 1854. It was also sold to tourists.
Until the early 1800s, the roads were bad. The easiest way to reach the Abbey was by boat. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge almost rode his horse off a cliff trying to get there at night. A new road was finished in 1829. In 1876, the Wye Valley Railway opened a station for Tintern. A branch line was built to the wireworks. This line blocked some views of the Abbey.
Modern Times: 1900s and 2000s
In 1901, the Crown bought Tintern Abbey for £15,000. It was recognized as an important national monument. Some repairs had been done before. But serious archaeological work began then. In 1914, the Office of Works took over. They did major repairs. They even removed the ivy that early tourists found so romantic. In 1984, Cadw took over responsibility. The Abbey was listed as a Grade I building in 2000.
Tintern Abbey in Art
Many painters came to Tintern Abbey. They wanted to capture its beauty. Artists like Francis Towne (1777), Thomas Gainsborough (1782), and J. M. W. Turner (1794–95) drew details of the Abbey's stonework. Samuel Palmer and Thomas Creswick also painted it. Even amateur artists sketched the windows.
Artists also focused on how light looked at the Abbey. Charles Heath wrote about the amazing effect of the moon shining through the main window. Other paintings show the Abbey by moonlight. Some even show tourist guides with torches inside. When the railway arrived, special trips were organized. People came to see the moon through the rose window.
Some old prints of the Abbey had poems with them. These poems often praised the Abbey's survival. They said it still stood in "gothic grandeur." This meant it was grand and medieval. Some poems celebrated the Abbey's beautiful setting. They called the River Wye by its old Latin name, Vaga.
Artists like J. M. W. Turner sometimes added poems to their work. In 1816, a book of sonnets was published. These poems were written to go with pictures of Tintern Abbey. Later, Louisa Anne Meredith included her own sketches and poems about the Abbey. She described the ivy growing around the arches and columns.
Literature Inspired by Tintern Abbey
Poetry
Many poets were inspired by Tintern Abbey. Some wrote long poems describing the area. These poems often included details about the local industries.
Other poets wrote about their personal feelings. Thomas Warwick wrote a sonnet about the ruins. Edward Jerningham wrote a short poem in 1796. It talked about the lessons from the past.
The Rev. Luke Booker wrote a sonnet about leaving Tintern Abbey. He thought about his own life and death. Edmund Gardner also wrote a sonnet there. He felt that humans are like temples that don't last as long. William Wordsworth wrote his famous poem "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey" in 1798. He didn't mention the ruins directly. Instead, he remembered an earlier visit. He wrote about how that memory helped him.
Later poems explored the Abbey's past in more detail. George Richards wrote an ode called "Tintern Abbey; or the Wandering Minstrel." It described the Abbey as it used to be. A minstrel sang about it as a holy place. "The Legend of Tintern Abbey" also told stories from its history.
Louisa Anne Meredith wrote a series of sonnets. She imagined the past scenes of the Abbey. She saw it beautiful with plants growing on it. Henrietta F. Vallé found a lily growing in the ruins. This made her think about beauty among decay.
In the 1800s, religious arguments affected how people saw the ruins. Some poets saw the Abbey's decay as a good thing. They believed it showed freedom from old beliefs. Others felt sad about the destruction. They saw it as a loss of faith.
In the 1900s, American poets also visited. John Gould Fletcher wrote "Elegy on Tintern Abbey." He contrasted Wordsworth's hopeful view with the problems of industry and war. Allen Ginsberg wrote "Wales Visitation" after his visit.
Fiction
In 1816, Tintern Abbey was the setting for a Gothic horror novel. It was called The Orphan of Tintern Abbey. The story began with a description of the Abbey.
In the 1900s, the Abbey appeared in ghost stories. "The Ghost of Tintern Abbey" (1901) was about solving a murder. Another story, "The Troubled Spirit of Tintern Abbey," was about a ghost from Purgatory. This ghost asked for prayers for his soul. Henry Gardner also wrote a novella called "The Ghost of Tintern Abbey" in 1984.
A more recent novel is The Secrets of Tintern Abbey (2008). This book tells the story of the Cistercian monks. It covers their 400 years at the monastery. It ends with the Abbey being closed down.
Images for kids
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The northeast view, a print by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, 1732
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The Abbey in the snow, early 20th century, photo by William A. E. Call
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The Abbey from the bridleway above, 1830/40
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The Abbey on a bend of the Wye, William Havell, 1804
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Local use of the ruins,
P. J. de Loutherbourg, 1805 -
Ruins against the hillside, Samuel Palmer, 1835
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Detail of the refectory windows, 19th century watercolour
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Abbey interior, 1858/1862, photo by Roger Fenton
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A J. M. W. Turner light effect, watercolour, 1828
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Benjamin Williams Leader, sunset over the Abbey, 1889
