Site details: Cymer


Home dershane Project team Project News Future plans Contact us Search the database Browse list of sites Browse list of orders Browse bibliography & archives Browse people Browse articles Glossary of terms Monastic Wales is not responsible for the content of external internet sites	Display site: Cymer (Abbey) also known as: Cymmer; Mynachlog Faner Order: Cistercian Cymer ('the meeting of the waters') was founded under the patronage of Gruffudd ap Cynan, prince of N. Wales (d. 1200), and his brother, Maredudd ap Cynan, lord of Meirionydd (d. 1212). show details of standing remains Standing remains There are standing remains of the rectangular thirteenth-century church with its aisled nave and presbytery in the east. Remnants of a piscina, credence table and sedilia survive in the presbytery as well as the east wall with its three lancet windows; the high altar would have stood below this. An aumbry can be seen in the north aisle. The rather unusual addition of a tower at the west end of the church was made in the fourteenth century. There may have been a bell on the upper level. Little survives of the claustral ranges to the south and a farmhouse to the west of the ruins may have been the abbey's guest house in the later Middle Ages or perhaps even the abbot's lodgings. Dedicated to: Virgin Mary Medieval Diocese: Bangor Affiliated to: Cwmhir Lordship at foundation: Maelienydd Access: open to public Owned by: Cadw Main events in the history of this site c.1198: Foundation - The Cistercian General Chapter received a request from 'Grifini', prince of N. Wales (Gruffyd ap Cynan), to build an abbey of the Order. [5 sources] 1209: Royal confirmation - Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) confirmed all grants and privileges that had been hitherto accorded to the abbey and offered the monks his protection. [3 sources] 1241: Destruction - Henry III caused some of the abbey's buildings to be burned. [2 sources] 1274: Loan - Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last, d. 1282) made the abbot a loan of £12 to enable him to travel to the annual general chapter at Cîteaux. [3 sources] 1275: Royal troops billeted - Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd made his HQ at the abbey. [1 source] 1279: Royal troops billeted - Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd again made HQ at the abbey. [1 source] 1283: Occupation - Edward I occupied the abbey and made this his base for machinations in the region. [1 source] 1284: Compensation - Edward I offered the monks £80 to defray the costs of damages incurred during the warfare. [2 sources] 1291: Wealth - The abbey's net income (spiritualities and temporalities) was assessed at just £28 8s 3d in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica. [3 sources] 1323: Confirmation - Edward II confirmed Prince Llywelyn’s charter of 1209. [2 sources] 1379: Poll tax - The abbot was required to pay 10s and each of the four monks, 4d. [1 archive] 1443: Custody - Cymer was taken into royal custody. [2 sources] 1453: Custody - Cymer was once more taken into royal custody. [2 sources] 1520: Contested abbacy - Rival claimants to the abbacy. [2 sources] c.1535: Valuation - On the eve of the Dissolution the abbey had an estimated net income of £51 13s 4d, according to the Valor Ecclesiasticus. [3 sources][1 archive] c.1537: Dissolution - The abbey was likely suppressed in March 1537. [2 sources] 1558: Post Dissolution - In May 1558 the site was leased to John Powes, royal servant. [1 source] 1890: Artefacts recovered - A splendid thirteenth-century silver gilt chalice and paten belonging to the abbey were found hidden under a stone at Cym-y-mynach. [1 source] + 16 minor events. Show minor events People associated with this site Edward I , king of England , lord of Ireland, duke of Aquitaine (Compensates) Gruffudd ap Cynan (founder) Hywel ap Gruffudd (benefactor) Llywelyn ab Iorwerth; Llywelyn Fawr , prince of Gwynedd (patron) Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , Prince of Wales (benefactor) Maredudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd , lord of Meirionydd (founder) Bibliographical sources 48 Printed sources show sources Cymmer Abbey, Merioneth, Office of Works, Department of Ancient Monuments & Historic Buildings, Official Guides (1934) The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales, I, 940-1216, ed. D. Knowles, C. Brooke and V. London (London, 1972; 2001) p. 131 The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales, II, 1216-1377, ed. D. M. Smith and V. London (CUP: Cambridge, 2001) p. 276 The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain: far from the concourse of men, ed. David M. Robinson (London, 1998) pp. 97-98 The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales, III, 1377-1540, ed. David M. Smith (CUP: Cambridge, 2008) pp. 286-7 Medieval Monasteries of Great Britain, ed. Lionel Butler and Christopher Given-Wilson (London, 1979) p. 201 Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales, ed. R. Neville Hadcock and David Knowles (Harlow, 1971) pp. 112, 118 Monasticon Anglicanum: a History of the Abbies and other Monasteries, Hospitals, Frieries, and Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, with their Dependencies, in England and Wales, 6 in 8 vols, ed. Sir William Dugdale, revised J. Caley, H. Ellis, B. Bandinel (London, 1817-1830) vol. 5, pp. 741-742 Brock, E. P. L., 'The Cistercian abbeys of Cymmer and Basingwerk with notes on the holy wells of Wales', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 34 (1878) pp. 463-467 Brock, E. P. Loftus, 'Cistercian Abbeys of Cymmer and Basingwerk with Notes on the Holy Wells of Wales', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 34 (1878), pp. 463-479 Burton, Janet, 'The foundation of the British Cistercian houses', in Cistercian Art and Architecture in the British Isles, ed. Christopher Norton and David Park (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 24-39 Butler, L. A. S., 'The lost choir: What was built at three Cistercian abbey churches in Wales?', in Perspectives for an Architecture of Solitude: Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture in Honour of Peter Fergusson, Medieval church studies, 11; Cîteaux. Studia et documenta, 13, ed. Terryl N. Kinder (Turnhout, 2004), pp. 115-123 Cooper, R., Abbeys and Priories of Wales (Swansea, 1992) pp. 53-4 Coppack, Glynn, The White Monks: the Cistercians in Britain 1128-1540 (Stroud, 1998) pp. 97-98 Cowley, F. G., The Monastic Order in South Wales 1066-1349 (Cardiff, 1977) Ellis, T. P., 'Merioneth notes', Y Cymmrodor, 38 (1927) pp. 1-7 Gray, Madeleine, 'Preface to Cistercians in Wales and the west', Archaeologia Cambrensis, (2007), pp. 17-26 Gresham, Colin A., 'The Cymer Abbey charter', Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 31 (1984), pp. 142-157 Gresham, Colin A., 'The Township of Niegwl', Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions, 37 (1976), pp. 10-42 Griffith, Margaret O., 'Abereiddon and Esgaireiddon', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 9 (1981/1984), pp. 367-389 Jones, H. L., 'Cymmer Abbey Merionethshire', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1:4 (1846), pp. 445-460 Jones, Henry Longueville, History of Cymmer Abbey (London and Tenby, 1851) Knowles, David and St. Jospeh, John Kenneth Sinclair, Monastic Sites from the Air (Cambridge, 1952) pp. 112-115 Neaverson, E., 'The Building Stones of Harlech Castle and Cymmer Abbey', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 100 (1949), pp. 280-281 O'Sullivan, J. F., Cistercian settlements in Wales and Monmouthshire, 1140-1540, Fordham Univ. Studies, History series, 2 (New York, 1947) pp. 16-17 Owen, H. J., 'The Cistercians and Cymer abbey', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 3 (1959), pp. 223-249 Owen, H. J., 'The romance of the chalice and paten of Cymer Abbey', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 2 (1955), pp. 181-190 Platt, Colin, The Abbeys and Priories of Medieval England (Avon, 1984) pp. 49, 88, 91 Pryce, H., 'The medieval church', in The History of Merioneth 2: The Middle Ages ed. J. B. Smith and L. B. Smith (Cardiff, 2001) pp. 273-287 Radford, C. A. Ralegh, Cymmer Abbey, Merioneth (HMSO: London, 1934) Richards, Robert, 'The Cistercians and Cymmer Abbey', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 3 (1959), pp. 223-249 Roberts, Enid Pierce, 'The impact of the Cistercians on Welsh life and culture in north and mid Wales', Transactions of the Denbighshire Historical Society, 50 (2001), pp. 13-23 Robinson, D., Cymer Abbey (rev. edn; Cardiff, 1990) Robinson, David M., The Cistercians in Wales: Architecture and Archaeology 1130-1540, Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Committee Report (London, 2006) pp. 235-239 Robinson, David M., Cymer Abbey (CADW: Welsh Historical Monuments Commission: Cardiff, 1990; rev. 1995) Robinson, David M. and Harrison, Stuart, 'Cistercian Cloisters in England and Wales: Part I', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 159 (2006), pp. 131-207 Smith, J. Beverley, 'Cymer Abbey and the Welsh princes', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 13 (1999), pp. 101-118 Smith, J. Beverley and Butler, Lawrence A. S., 'The Cistercian Order: Cymer Abbey', in History of Merioneth, volume II: the middle ages, ed. J. B. Smith and L. B. Smith (Cardiff, 2001), pp. 297-325 Smith, Katherine E. S., 'Iron-Working in North-West Wales in the Late Fourteenth century', Archaeological Journal, 152 (1995) pp. 275-277 Smith, P. and Suggett, R., 'Themes and variations in Merioneth: an essay on vernacular houses for Ron Brunskill', Transations of the Ancient Monuments Society, 46 (2002) pp. 58-62 Stephenson, David, 'The rulers of Gwynedd and Powys', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 89-102 W., W. W. E., 'Cymmer Abbey (additional particulars)', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 2:8 (1847), pp. 327-328 Williams, David H., The Welsh Cistercians (Leominster, 2001) Williams, David H., The Cistercians in the Early Middle Ages (Leominster, 1998) Williams, David H., Atlas of Cistercian Lands in Wales (Cardiff, 1990) Williams, David H., 'Catalogue of Welsh ecclesiastical seals as known down to AD 1600, 4: Seals of Cistercian monasteries', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 136 (1988), pp. 138-155 Williams, David H., 'The Cistercians in West Wales 1: Cymer Abbey', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 130 (1981), pp. 36-58 Williams-Jones, Keith, 'Llywelyn's charter to Cymer Abbey in 1209', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 3 (1957-1960), pp. 45-78 5 On-line sources show online sources (all open in new window) Cadw - Cymer (View website) The Cistercians in Yorkshire Project - Cymer (View website) Rood screen, Llanegryn Church (View website) Photograph of Cymer Abbey, Llanelltud, near Dolgellau (View website) RCAHMW, Coflein database - Cymer Abbey (View website) Archival sources The National Archives, 'Exchequer, King's Remembrancer, Clerical Subsidies - Cymmer 1379', (Document), (View website) Bangor University, 'Nannau Manuscripts', (Collection), Related articles on Monastic Wales The Cistercians in Wales, Professor Janet Burton Who were the Cistercians?, Professor Janet Burton Images of this site Arcade at Cymer Arcade at Cymer Abbey Capital, Cymer Abbey Clerical poll tax return for Cymer, 1379 Cymer Abbey Groundplan of Cymer Abbey, Cadw, Welsh Government (Crown Copyright) Remains of the former abbey Remains of the former monastery The nave of the former abbey church	Remains of the former monastery Gwynedd, OS Grid:SH7213819541 View site details on COFLEIN (RCAHMW database)[new window]

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