Welcome
This week we travel to Wales to see another impressive Cistercian monastery - Tintern Abbey. I visited Tintern with my fellow history students on a ‘reading party’ weekend in Herefordshire. We were each assigned three new title history books to read and report on to the group, each night of our 5 night stay.
During the day we visited nearby historical sites, studied and cooked lots of food. It’s one of my fondest memories of my time at Oriel College in Oxford.
In our final visit this week, we travel 50 minutes south west to Cardiff to see the oldest record shop in the world.
I hope you enjoy Traveling Through History with me this week.
Michelle
Savvy Travel Historian
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October Theme - Abbeys
Tintern Abbey - Wales (Abaty Tyndyrn in Welsh)
Background
Tintern Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in Wales, situated in the picturesque Wye Valley and founded in 1131 by Walter de Clare, the Lord of Chepstow.
Located 25 minutes south of Monmouth and 10 minutes north of Chepstow, Tintern Abbey is just over the border between England and Wales, whose delineation in this section runs along the River Wye.
History
Tintern’s earliest history is recorded by Monmouthshire writer Fred Hando, who wrote that Tewdrig, the King of Glywysing (a post-Roman to early middle ages kingdom), abdicated his throne in favour of his son Meurig, and retired to a life of seclusion and contemplation in the hermitage known as Tintern. He later emerged to lead his son’s army in a battle against the Saxons in which he was killed.
Like Rielvaulx and Fountains Abbey, that we have visited the past two weeks, Tintern’s location was chosen for the Cistercian monks due to its seclusion and the picturesque countryside it is nestled in. Additionally, being close to the River Wye, meant a permanent and clean water supply was available.
There are records that indicate lands in this area and further south were farmed by small communities well before the abbey was established, and de Clare granted rights over some of these lands to the monks, to assist with their survival.
From 1148-57, Abbott Henry was in charge after having repented his sinful youth as someone who had made a ‘lucrative profession of brigandage’ (robbery).
Like other monasteries around the country, Tintern’s fortunes were tied to the weather, wars, crop and wool failures and the reliance on patronage from the local aristocracy.
While it was receiving grants of land to either farm or lease out, it was in a relatively stable condition, but during local uprisings and diseases, such as the plague, they lost lands and manpower and the disappearance of lay brothers to do much of the manual work meant that income was reduced to tenancies only.
Papal taxation documents show us that in 1291, Tintern was farming over 3,000 acres of land on the Welsh side of the border and had 3,264 sheep grazing in pastures that produced wool of ‘fine quality’.
In around 1245, the lordship of Chepstow passed to the Bigod family, who at the time were the Earls of Norfolk. Roger Bigod took a keen interest in Tintern and it is he who is credited with the funds to build the magnificent church we see today.
When he died in 1306, he left Tintern vast estates from his holdings and this produced a quarter of its income at the time of the dissolutions. His contribution was so great that in 1535 (almost 230 years later), they were still distributing alms to the poor five times a year in his name.
The height of its fortunes came at the beginning of the fourteenth century and it would decline from here.
Being a smaller monastery, Tintern was set to be included in the early dissolutions in 1535-36, partly because of its remote location in Wales and because, despite being the wealthiest house in Wales, it had few supporters prepared to defend it, like the Pilgrimage of Grace participants were to do in England.
On September 3, 1535, the abbot and monks surrendered to Wolsey’s men and received pensions in return. The destruction of the buildings was not an immediate priority and within months the land was granted to Henry Somerset, the Earl of Worcester. He had two nearby castles at Chepstow and Raglan and did not want to live at Tintern and records indicate that the lands were leased to local farmers.
Over the centuries that followed, Tintern Abbey transitioned from a monastic center to a picturesque ruin, its stone walls bearing witness to the passage of time. The Romantic movement of the 18th century played a crucial role in rekindling interest in the abbey. Poets and artists, including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and J.M.W. Turner, found inspiration in the haunting beauty of the abbey's ruins, immortalising it in their works. Wordsworth's poem (from 1798) "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" reflects the profound impact of the site on the Romantic imagination.
The 19th century saw efforts to preserve and protect Tintern Abbey. The construction of the Wye Valley Railway in the mid-19th century facilitated access to the site, bringing a new wave of visitors and admirers. In 1901, the Office of Works assumed responsibility for the abbey's maintenance, a pivotal step in its preservation.
In the 20th century, Tintern Abbey became a symbol of Wales's rich historical and cultural heritage. The site, now in the care of Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service, attracts visitors from around the world.
Construction
The aerial view of the abbey below gives us a good picture of the layout of the abbey floor plan. The outer wall shows the extent of the perimeter, which tells us that it was relatively small, compared to the others we have looked at this month.
Building works would have taken place from 1131 right up until its dissolution 1536.
Very little of the original abbey survives today, save for some of the outerwall that was incorporated into later buildings. The original church was smaller and situated further north than the current building.
The low walls in the foreground of the image below, shows the outline of the remains of a guest house and hall, which would have been where the visitors to Tintern stayed.
The abbey underwent several phases of construction, evolving from Early Gothic to Decorated Gothic styles, showcasing the architectural trends spanning the 400 years of its construction. It is likely that every monk at Tintern was living on a building site during their tenure, due to the ongoing and almost continuous construction taking place.
The Nave
The Nave is divided into six bays down the length of the church, with the central area divided by aisles. Clerestory windows allowed light into this important area of the church.
Presbytery
The presbytery occupied three bays from the crossing towards the east end of the church. The details in the arches were more intricate than the Nave.
North Transept
The north transept’s construction was complex as the old church was still in this section when the first parts of the church were under construction. The wall seen in the background was the monk’s dormitory and it was from this end that they entered to say prayers during the night.
South Transept
The tall window of the south transept was believed to have contained six separate panes of glass. Below is an arched doorway with a gable that extends into the large window above. The doorway gave access to the monks' cemetery to the east of the church and was used for processional purposes.
The aisles on the left were two chapels separated by screens from this transept and the presbytery.
Infirmary
All monasteries understood that looking after the sick and the aged was important but at Tintern they did this from as early as 1240. This gives us an indication that the abbots of Tintern were prepared to ensure that those in need were well taken care of within the grounds of the monastery.
You can take a virtual tour of Tintern, via the following link and if you have a VR headset, you can get a fully immersive experience.
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/whats-on/virtual-visits/virtual-visits-religious-relics
Relevant Travel Information:
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/tintern-abbey
Open daily from 9:30 - 5pm from March - October and 10am - 4pm November - February.
Tintern has a local cafe/pub nearby, adequate car parking, a shop and picnic area with tables.
Spillers Records - Cardiff
Spillers Records in Cardiff, holds the prestigious title of being the world's oldest record store.
Located in the Morgan Arcade in central Cardiff since 2010, Spillers stands amongst several groups of brand name and independent retailers, whose shops have original wooden storefronts and venetian windows in a restored arcade that was built between 1896 and 1899.
Established in 1894 by Henry Spiller, the store initially focused on selling phonographs and shellac records, catering to the evolving tastes of music enthusiasts in the early 20th century. As the music industry evolved, so did Spillers.
Throughout its long history, Spillers Records weathered the storm of technological advancements, transitioning from vinyl to cassette tapes and eventually CDs. The store became a cultural hub, attracting music aficionados and artists alike. In the 1990s, during the resurgence of vinyl's popularity, Spillers once again became a focal point for vinyl enthusiasts and collectors, preserving the essence of a bygone era while adapting to the contemporary music landscape.
Despite facing challenges posed by digitalization and online music platforms, Spillers persisted, maintaining its status as an independent music institution. Its survival shows that it’s not only resilience but also has the local community's unwavering support.
In 2010, Spillers Records faced the threat of closure due to economic pressures, but a groundswell of public support, including prominent Welsh musicians like Gruff Rhys and Cerys Matthews, helped secure its future.
To put into perspective how old Spiller’s is. When they started trading, vinyl records would not become mainstream for almost half a century!
Today, Spillers Records stands as a living archive of musical history, a cherished landmark where the past and present converge, offering a unique and irreplaceable experience for music enthusiasts in Cardiff and beyond.
You can follow them on Instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/spillersrecords/
Michelle is a speaker, author, content marketer, historian and mother of 3 boys.
After 25 years in business and as the ‘Content Marketing Queen’ for the past 12 years, she has helped countless small businesses understand and develop their content strategies and focus on a customer first approach.
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