WHITLAND (in its early days called Albalanda) was founded in 1140 under the patronage of Bernard, bishop of St. Davids (1115-48). It was the first of four houses in Wales to be colonised directly from Clairvaux, and was destined to be the mother-house of most of the abbeys founded in the second half of the twelfth century in the central and northern parts of Wales. The community of monks first arrived in West Wales in 1140 and by 1144 had settled at Little Trefgarn near Haverfordwest. Whitland took pride of place amongst the early Cistercian abbeys of south Wales and was from the first a house of the native Welsh in which members of the chief families took the habit and became abbots. Whitland must have attracted a significant number of new recruits for the abbey sent out three colonies of monks within thirty years of existence: Cwmhir (1143), Strata Florida (1164) and Strata Marcella (1170). From approximately 1165 patronage of Whitland was acquired by Prince Rhys ap Grufford (d. 1197). The abbey also suffered great damage during the Welsh wars of King Edward I. It is known that a royal inquest during the reign of Edward I had acknowledged a claim for £260 by way of compensation. An important possession to have survived from Whitland Abbey is the Cronica Wallia, one of the most valuable of all the Welsh monastic chronicles of the period. In recent years a number of arguments have been put forward which favour Whitland as its place of origin.
In 1164 the Anglo-Norman lord, Robert fitz Stephen, founded STRATA FLORIDA Abbey on the banks of the River Fflur, on a site known today as yr hen fynachlog, which means ‘the old monastery’. The original site was colonised by a group of monks from Whitland. However, the following yeare Robert’s lands were over run by the Welsh lord, Rhys ap Gruffydd (d. 1197), prince of Deheubarth. LLANTARNAM Abbey in Monmouthshire was founded in 1179 by the Welsh lord of Caerleon, Hywel ab Ioerwerth (d. 1211), and was colonised by monks from Strata Florida. In its earlier years the abbey was known by a variety of names including Nant-Teyrnan, Dewma and Caerleon. Llantarnam not only received gifts from its founder but also benefited from the patronage of the native Welsh in the upland areas of eastern Glamorgan. It was recorded that during the late twelfth century the house had a community of sixty monks, although the numbers had dropped to twenty by 1317.
STRATA FLORIDA was consecrated in 1201 and the church was ready for the community to occupy the east end. abbey soon became a favourite of the Lord Ryhs and was cherished by the Welsh people. In 1238 Llewelyn the Great called all the native princes of Wales to meet at Strata Florida to swear allegiance to his son, David. During its first twenty years the community had the numbers to send out two colonies to establish daughter-houses: Llantarnum (1179) and Aberconwy (1186). In 1170 the prince of southern Wales, Owain Cyfeiliog, invited a colony of monks from Whitland to settle at a new foundation, STRATA MARCELLA on the west bank of the River Severn. It is believed that after only two years, the monks moved from the first site to the present one. The abbey was usually called Ystrad Marchell (at both sites). In his old age, Prince Owain retired to the monastery and took the habit of the Cistercian monks. On his death, in 1197, he was buried in the grounds of the abbey. Thereafter, his son Gwenwynwyn (d. 1216) took over patronage of the abbey and added considerably to Strata Marcella’s endowments. In 1330 Edward III responded by dispersing the Welsh community at Strata Marcella and sending the monks to English houses. The community at Strata Marcella was replaced with English monks, and the house was made subject to the abbey of Buildwas in Shropshire.
VALLE CRUCIS was founded in 1201 by Madoc ap Gruffydd (d. 1236), ruler of the Welsh principality of Powys. The abbey was named after the ‘Valley of the Cross’, the lush green landscape in which it was situated. The valley itself took its name from the ninth-century Pillar of Eilseg, a memorial cross which stands near to the site of the abbey. During the Middle Ages, Valle Crucis Abbey was also known as the abbey of ‘Llanegwestl’, from the original Welsh name for its site. Thirteen monks and an abbot arrived from Strata Marcella in Powys, near Welshpool, and building work began almost immediately. The monks were granted access to extensive grazing lands for their flocks and herds on the granges at Mwstwr and Buddugre and also held arable fields, water meadows and woodland areas.
A few years after the foundation, the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order reprimanded the abbot of Valle Crucis, along with those of Aberconwy and Caerleon, because it was reported that they rarely celebrated Mass or even received the Holy Eucharist. In the fifteenth century Guttyn Owain praised the hospitality of the abbots, remarking that the table was usually spread with four meat courses served in silver dishes and accompanied by ‘sparkling claret’. During the late fifteenth century the monks' dormitory was completely taken over to be used as a grand set of apartments, in which the abbots must have lived in semi-secular comfort. During the Welsh wars of King Edward I, in 1276-77 and 1282-83, the abbey suffered at the hands of the English and the buildings were significantly damaged. In 1284, Valle Crucis was granted £160 by way of compensation for the losses incurred. Some scandal surrounded the last years of the monastery. In 1534 the penultimate abbot, Robert Salusbury, was accused of many crimes and excesses and the following yeare was arrested for his part in a highway robbery. At the time of the Dissolution the abbey had a net annual income valued at £188 and the monastery was finally surrendered in January 1537. Following the Dissolution, the site passed to William Pickering and later to the Wootton family.
TRACTON was founded in 1225 and was colonised with monks from Whitland, in Wales. The Cistercian General Chapter approved Odo’s petition to found an abbey in 1222 and again in 1223. Although the tabula lists Maurice MacCarthy as founder, it is generally accepted that Odo de Barry was responsible. The abbey was situated on the coast of County Cork beside a small river, which flows into Ringabella Bay. The Latin name of the abbey was Albus Tractus ('the white coast') which was a variant of the name for Whitland, Alba Landa. The monks of Tracton were known as the 'Monks of the White Tract Vale'. During his visitation of 1228, Stephen of Lexington criticised the monks at Tracton for speaking Welsh and ordered that the Rule was to be expounded in French so that ‘the disorderly cannot hide themselves when visitors come . . . but all will understand and will be understood by all . . . otherwise visitors will waste their time building a tower of Babel in the confusion of languages’. From 1483 onwards the abbacy was exclusively held by members of the Barry family, who were descendents of the original founder. In 1568 the property was granted to Henry Gylford and by the early seventeenth century it had been acquired by Thomas Daunt of Gloucestershire, who was thought to have lived in the abbey. The Daunts later built a new house and from approximately 1639 the abbey fell into decay. A Protestant church was built on the site of the abbey, c. 1817, by which time the buildings had probably been destroyed. There are no surviving remains, although the old graveyard near the Protestant church marks the site of the abbey.