St. Dogmael's Abbey

The abbey at St Dogmael's stands on a sloping stie overlooking the Teifi estuary.

St Dogmaels was part of the Order of Tiron, which was a reforming Benedictine order, similar to those of Citeaux (Cistercian) and Savigny, that flourished in the early 13th Century. In fact, the Order of Tiron originated close to the abbey of Savigny from which the abbeys of Neath and Basingwerk were establish.

In England and Wales the monks of Tiron were not notably successful. Of the seven houses established, three were in or close to Hampshire and three were in Pembrokeshire. The latter were the most successful, primarily because the main house at St Dogmaels acquired the status of an abbey at an early date thus giving a non alien character to the Pembrokeshire houses.

Martin of Tiron, who died before 1086, may have wished to establish a monastery in Cemain, a large district of west Wales of which he and his son Robert were conquerors. Martin's widow, Geva, and Robert seem to have treasured his wishes and founded the priory at St Dogmael's in 1113 or shortly thereafter, close to the site of an old Celtic monastery. Within the choir of the new church they buried Martin of Tiron.

In 1120 the abbot of Tiron agreed to St Dogmael's becoming an abbey but the house was still closely tied to Tiron which retained the important right to elect the abbot of St Dogmael's. The abbey was endowed with Caldey Island, a gift from Geva, where a dependent priory was shortly established. Two more dependent priories were established at Pill, near Milford Haven and at Glascerry in southern Ireland.

The evidence of the building remains at St Dogmael's suggests that the abbey may have suffered some destruction at the end of the 12th Century when Lord Rhys asserted his control over the Norman holdings of much of south-west Wales. There followed, however, a period of relative calm for St Dogmael's and to this period may attributed the principal extant remains of the church which would have been rebuilt at the time.

In the Taxation of 1291, St Dogmael's was assessed at £58 and held 720 acres of land. The low value placed on the house together with substantial rebuilding that took place in the early 14th Century may be the result of a further destruction of the abbey that had taken place at the end of the Welsh wars. Little more is known of the history of the abbey and at the suppression in 1536 it was valued at £87 with eigth monks plus the abbot.

The plan of the abbey was straightforward, a cruciform church with conventual buildings ranged to the south in the normal pattern. The nave was originally conceived with two aisles but only the south aisle was completed. Eventually the south aisle was dismantled and the north cloister walk occupied from the space made available.

The nave was seperated from the presbytery by a pulpitum with a central doorway and in front of this area was a stone screen. An apsed chapel extended from the south transept whilst the north transept is a rebuilding of the early 16th Century.

From early in its history the abbey had an infirmary but this was placed so that when a new chapter house was built extending from the east range it had to be skewed to the north. The 14th Century frater extended along the length of the south range. Beyond the west range and the west front of the church was placed the guest house.

The site is now in the care of Cadw and is approached through the village. Passing through the entrance gate the east range is arrived at by passing the infirmary building. At the east end of the church a small 13th Century crypt can be seen.

The principle remains of the church are of the north transept and the north and west walls of the nave. In the north transept can be seen remnants of the vaulted ceiling with the corbels from which the vaulting sprang. In an adjacent base of a crossing pier can be seen the bottom of the stair leading onto the pulpitum.

The most complete of the remaining buildings is the infirmary, a survival unique in Welsh abbeys. It is a simple, rectangular building of the late 13th Century with a small vaulted extension to the south.