The Building of Tintern Abbey,
founded 9th May 1131

Tintern Abbey was founded by Walter fitz Richard of Clare (d.1138), the Anglo-Norman lord of Chepstow. It was only the second Cistercian community to be established in the British Isles, and the very first in Wales. The secluded heavily wooded slopes of the Lower Wye Valley were a location well suited to the Cistercian charism.

Abbot's seal 1256

The Abbots Seal 1256

Walter de Clare gave Tintern several important endowments in the vicinity of the abbey and in the surrounding area. David Robinson, in his guidebook of the Abbey (Cadw, 2002) writes: "We must imagine the first generation of Tintern's lay brothers vigorously preparing areas for cultivation, putting up grange buildings, and felling woods to extend the available plough land. The pattern set in the first decades was to continue for several centuries."

Fontenay in France

The nave at Fontenay

The first church on the site would have been a simple structure. It would have been largely bereft of ornamentation, in keeping with the strict instructions of the Cistercian rule. It may well have been similar to the surviving Cistercian church at Fontenay in France.

In the first 150 years of its existence the community at Tintern grew steadily, as evidenced by the extensive remains of the monastic buildings on the site.

Famous ruins of Tintern Abbey, as they look today

Towards the middle of the 13th century work began on the complete reconstruction of the abbey church. The new building was to be in almost every sense a Gothic great church, designed in the fast emerging Decorated architectural style. It was to overwhelm the first church, and it is the remains of this second abbey church which comprise the bulk of the famous ruins of today. It was dedicated on 28th July 1301.