Monastic Wales.








Event detail for site: Caldey

1537: Dissolution

The priory was suppressed with the lesser houses on 8 April 1537, under the 1536 Act of Suppression.

By 25 October 1538 the cell had been leased.

Monastic life on the island was renewed in 1906 with the arrival of Anglican Benedictine monks. In 1913 the community converted to Roman Catholicism and in 1926 sold the island to Cistercian monks; they settled at Caldey in 1929 and have occupied the site since.

Bibliographical sources

Printed sources

The Heads of Religious Houses in England and Wales, III, 1377-1540, ed. David M. Smith (CUP: Cambridge, 2008) p. 168

Cooper, R., Abbeys and Priories of Wales (Swansea, 1992) p. 45

Jack, Sybil, 'Dissolution dates for the monasteries dissolved under the Act of 1536', Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 43 (1970) p. 181

Other events in the history of this site

c.1115: Foundation - The priory was founded c. 1113x15 by Geva, the mother of Robert fitz Martin, as a dependency of her son's foundation of St Dogmaels. [3 sources]
c.1180: Numbers - By the late twelfth century the monastic community at Caldey was seemingly small, with just one or two monks.  
1381: Clerical poll tax - PHILIP FADIR, prior of Caldy, is assessed to pay a tax of 6s.8d. [1 sources][1 archives]
1504: Visitation - In July 1504 the see of St David's was vacant and the archdiocese of Canterbury undertook a visitation of St Dogmaels and its daughter-house, Caldey.  [1 sources]
c.1535: Wealth - According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus the priory had an annual income of £5 10s 11d and tithes of £1 is 11d.  [3 sources][1 archives]
c.1535: Numbers - On the eve of the Dissolution there was only one monk on the island. [1 sources]
1536: Survey - In late September the priory was surveyed in advance of its suppression. [1 sources]
1537: Dissolution - The priory was suppressed with the lesser houses on 8 April 1537, under the 1536 Act of Suppression.  [3 sources]
 
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