TINTERN, GWENT

Tintern was founded in 1131 by Walter fitz Richard (d. 1138), the Anglo-Norman lord of Chepstow, and a member of the powerful family of Clare. Walter of Clare was also related by marriage to Bishop William of Winchester, who had introduced the first colony of White Monks to WAVERLEY in Surrey in 1128. It was founded by William Giffard, bishop of Winchester, who brought a colony across the channel from the French abbey of L’Aumone (Loir-et-Cher), sometimes called ‘Le Petit-Citeaux’. The abbot and community from L’Aumone were presumably foreigners and settled down to an unostentatious life on a remote site, away from the main lines of travel. In its early years the abbey had several important benefactors, including: Queen Adeliza (wife of Henry I), King Stephen (1135-54), and Henry of Blois (younger brother of King Stephen and William’s successor to the bishopric of Winchester). Whilst it was tucked away in the Surrey countryside and attracted no recruits of any repute, the abbey was nevertheless one of the three most influential Cistercian houses in England, alongside Rievaulx and Fountains. During the reign of King Edward I the abbot seems to have attended the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order on a regular basis, and in 1305 King Edward appointed the abbot of Waverley, with other commissioners, to consult with Scots.

TINTERN was the first Cistercian house to be founded in Wales and the second in the British Isles after Waverley. Tintern abbey, situated deep in the Wye valley, was colonised by monks from L’Aumone (Loir-et-Cher) in the diocese of Blois in France. L’Aumone was in turn a daughter house of Cîteaux, and Tintern was therefore linked as a granddaughter to the Burgundian mother house. The community grew quickly and by 1139, had sufficient numbers to send out a colony to KINGSWOOD in Gloucestershire. In 1139 Roger de Berkeley offered the abbot at Tintern the site of Acholt in Kingswood, so that he could send out a colony from his overcrowded monastery. Following the foundation of the abbey at Kingswood, the monks led a very unsettled life. The civil war during the reign of King Stephen (1135-54) clearly disrupted their life and they sought a more peaceful site. The monks purchased some land from John de St. John at Hazleton and moved there some time between 1139 and 1147. In 1147 the lands at Hazleton were recovered by its previous owner, Reginald de St. Waleric, who drove out the monks. The community then returned to Kingswood.

During TINTERN's early years the house was blessed with, Abbot Henry, a man of great spirituality. Tintern was one of the few Welsh abbeys that managed to escape the suffering inflicted by the wars of Edward II. Henry, who presided over the community from 1148-1157, had spent his youth as a robber, apparently a lucrative profession, but later repented and took the Cistercian habit; by all accounts he became an intensely religious man. Abbot Henry is known to have visited both the Pope and St. Bernard. In 1189 William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, became lord of Chepstow and patron of Tintern. Earl William was also lord of Leinster in south-east Ireland and, during a storm at sea, he promised God that he would establish a new monastery on these lands if he was saved from shipwreck. Thus Tintern sent out her second and final colony to establish the abbey of Tintern Parva (Little Tintern) on William’s lands in Ireland (1201-1203).

Edward II was known to have stayed at the abbey for two nights in 1326 when he was fleeing from the invading army of Roger Mortimer, but otherwise Tintern’s history remains a quiet one. By the early fifteenth century the abbey was experiencing some financial difficulties as a result of the damaging effects of the uprising of Owain Glyndwr. The community found some cash relief from the offerings of pilgrims who travelled to the abbey. Roger Bigod was remembered primarily as the builder of the abbey church. The project, which had commenced in 1269, was finally concluded under the patronage of Roger, c. 1301. So great was the generosity of Roger Bigod that later observers considered him to be the founder of the abbey. At the time of the Dissolution the monks were still distributing alms to the poor five times a yeare for the repose of Roger’s soul. The house was surrendered in September 1536 and the site was granted to Henry Somerset, earl of Worcester (d. 1549), who was the current patron of the house.