CHAPTER XII

GLAMORGANSHIRE: DENBIGHSHIRE

NEATH: VALLE CRUCIS

NEATH (_Cistercian_)

Founded and endowed in the 12th century by Richard de Grainvilla--Dedicated to the Holy Trinity and occupied successively by Franciscan and Cistercian monks--1208, All previous grants confirmed and many privileges and immunities bestowed by King John--15--, Dissolved. Annual revenue, £132, 7s. 7d.--1544, Granted to Sir Richard Williams--1650, The abbey house comes into the possession of the Hobby family.

Neath, a flourishing seaport in Glamorganshire, possesses some interesting features. Claiming to be built on the site of a Roman station and having some scattered remains of an ancient castle--burnt down in the 13th century--it also boasts extensive ruins of an abbey, which, if we believe Lewis Morganwg, the famous Welsh bard, must have been enriched in days past with many beauties--

“Like the sky of the vale of Ebron is the covering of this monastery; weighty is the lead that roofs this abode--the dark blue canopy of the dwellings of the Godly. Every colour is seen in the crystal windows, every fair and high-wrought form beams forth through them like the rays of the sun. Portals of radiant guardians! Pure and empyreal, here is every dignified language and every well-skilled preceptor. Here are seen the graceful robes of prelates, here may be found gold and jewels, the tribute of the wealthy. Here also is the gold-adorned choir, the nave, the gilded tabernacle-work, the pinnacles, worthy of the Three Fountains. Distinctly may be seen on glass, imperial arms; a ceiling resplendent with kingly bearings, and on the surrounding border, the shields of princes; the arms of Neath, of a hundred ages; there is the white freestone and the arms of the best men under the crown of Harry, and the church walls of grey marble. The vast and lofty roof is like the sparkling heavens on high, above are seen archangels’ forms; the floor beneath is for the people of earth, all the tribe of Babel, for them it is wrought of variegated stone. The bells, the benedictions, and the peaceful songs of praise, proclaim the frequent thanksgiving of the White Monks.”

Standing on the left bank of the river Neath, the ruins, now, alas, begrimed with smoke, are situated at the opening of one of the most beautiful of the Welsh valleys. There are but few monastic foundations in the Principality--the most interesting being Valle Crucis in the north and Neath in the south. Founded by Richard de Grainvilla, or Granville (a connection of the FitzHamons)--who also enlarged Neath Castle--it possessed the right of sanctuary and consequently found favour from Edward II. After undergoing many enlargements and alterations between the time of its foundation and that of the Dissolution--when it was inhabited by only eight monks,--the demesne was granted to Sir Richard Williams by Henry VIII., and in the 17th century the abbey house became the home of the Hobby family. Of this primarily Franciscan and latterly Cistercian monastery the priory house is the best preserved fragment. There is also a lengthy apartment, considered to be the remains of the chapter-house and containing a remarkable double-vaulted ceiling; but of the abbey church nothing remains except disconsolate heaps of fallen masonry.

VALLE CRUCIS (_Cistercian_)

1200, Founded by Madoc ap Griffith Madoc, Lord of Bromfield, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary--1535, Suppressed. Annual revenue, £180, 8s.

The ruins of this Cistercian house are situated in a secluded part of Denbighshire and are both beautiful and somewhat extensive. The river Dee flows close at hand and high wooded hills shelter the crumbling walls. Fine ash trees bend gracefully over the ruined arches and with the encroaching ivy, add greatly to the picturesque beauty of the abbey. The name “Valle Crucis” (Valley of the Cross) is derived from and ancient cross, known as the “Pillar of Eliseg,” built on a tumulus just above Llangollen in the 8th century. This cross was erected by Concenn in memory of his great-grandfather Eliseg. The limestone rocks which surround it are called the Eliseg Mountains, and it is supposed by some authorities that they are named from a church which stood in a meadow below, still known as “the meadow of the church.” Five hundred years after the erection of the cross, Madoc, Lord of the Castle of Dinas Bran, established a church and monastery in this peaceful district and filled it with Cistercian monks.

The church, of which considerable portions remain, consisted of a nave of five bays with aisles, choir, and north and south transepts--each of which had an aisle and two chapels. The west front and portions of the transepts are still standing, the Early English windows in the former being of double lights and crowned in the gable above by a circular or marigold window. An inscription can be seen above the lancets recording that Abbot Adams “fecit hoc opus” Besides these fragments, some portions of the outer walls of the nave and some of the piers remain, while part of the vaulting is still intact in the east aisle of the south transept. The former chapter-house was at one time used as a farm house, but has now happily been restored to itself. It adjoins the sacristy and lies to the south of the church. Architecturally Valle Crucis is an excellent example of the Welsh type of Transition or Early English work. That there was formerly a tower can be learnt from the lines of the poet Churchyard:--

“An Abbey near the mountayne towre there is, Whose walls yet stand, and steeple too, likewise.”

Though now practically a waste, this abbey was once a rich foundation, owning, besides a number of livings, three hundred acres of “plough land.” Much care has been taken of the ruined buildings, but the relentless hand of Time has laid so heavy a hold upon them that they are now but a shadow of their former beauty.