| Strata Florida Abbey |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT STRATA FLORIDA ABBEY | |
| 1160s establishments | |
| buildings and structures in cardiganshire | |
| history of cardiganshire | |
| monasteries in wales | |
| cistercian monasteries | |
| ruins in wales | |
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Strata Florida (in Welsh: ''Ystrad Fflur'') is a former Cistercian Abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid , near Tregaron in the County of Ceredigion , Wales . Now in Ruins , the abbey is in the care of Cadw . It is traditionally the burial place of the greatest Welsh Language poet, Dafydd Ap Gwilym , and a Memorial to him is to be found on the site. Many princes of the royal house of Deheubarth were also buried here. The only substantive structure remaining is the entrance archway, though low walls marking the extent of the church and six subsidiary chapels remain. A modern roof (visible in the picture) protects an area of medaeival tiling. About the Abbey the 1851 ''Illustrated London Reading Book'' says: :The remains of Strata Florida Abbey, in South Wales, are most interesting in many points of view, more especially as the relics of a stately seminary for learning, founded as early as the year 1164 . The community of the Abbey were Cistercian monks, who soon attained great celebrity, and acquired extensive possessions. A large library was founded by them, which included the national records from the earliest periods, the works of the bards and the genealogies of the Princes and great families in Wales. The monks also compiled a valuable history of the Principality, down to the death of Llewellyn The Great . When Edward I invaded Wales, he burned the Abbey, but it was rebuilt A.D. 1294 . :Extensive woods once flourished in the vicinity of Strata Florida, and its burial-place covered no less than 120 acres km² . A long list of eminent persons from all parts of Wales were here buried, and amongst them David ap Gwillim, the famous Bard . The churchyard is now reduced to small dimensions; but leaden coffins, doubtless belonging to once celebrated personages, are still found, both there and at a distance from the cemetery. A few aged box and yew-trees now only remain to tell of the luxuriant verdure which once grew around the Abbey; and of the venerable pile itself little is left, except an arch, and the fragment of a fine old wall, about forty feet high. A small church now stands within the enclosure, more than commonly interesting from having been built with the materials of the once celebrated Abbey of Strata Florida. Recent excavation work by University of Wales Lampeter, and Trinity College Carmarthen in the woods surrounding the Abbey have found evidence of the Kiln that made the tiles for the Abbey. Also a number of field boundaries dating back to the same period have been discovered. Two leats which seemed to increase the flow of the water into the Glassfrwdd were also studied. It is believed they served the overall purpose of running a mill further down stream. |
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