Grace Dieu Abbey
Grace Dieu Abbey was a small Cistercian abbey established in 1226 near to the town of Monmouth. No remains of its buildings can now be seen above ground. It was originally located on the west bank of the River Trothy, in an extra-parochial place known as Grace Dieu Park about two miles north of the village of Dingestow, but relocated on at least one occasion after being attacked by the Welsh. Its final site is uncertain, but investigations have focused on a field on the east side of the Trothy, at SO45121311,[1] and this is the location labeled on Ordnance Survey maps.
The abbey was founded by John of Monmouth, who requested permission to establish it in 1217. It was the last Cistercian foundation in Wales. A founding community was sent from its mother house, Dore Abbey in Herefordshire, in 1226, when the abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was always poor, although it owned land on both sides of the River Wye. The abbey held a grange, known variously as Wyesham Grange or Beaulieu Grange, east of Monmouth, land now known as Beaulieu Farm.[2] The abbey was attacked by the Welsh in 1232, razed to the ground the following year, and relocated from its original site in 1236. The community sought to relocate again in 1276. In 1356, it was granted use of the chantry chapel in Monmouth Castle.[3]
The abbey was dissolved in 1536, under the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act.[3] The house known as Parc Grace Dieu, close to the original site, takes its name from the abbey.
References
- Location map: 51°48’50"N, 2°47’51"W
- ↑ RCAHMW: Grace Dieu. Accessed 17 December 2011.
- ↑ Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Historic Landscape Characterisation: Lower Wye Valley. Accessed 11 January 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Monastic Wales: Grace Dieu. Accessed 17 December 2011
