Home»All Photographs»Cathedrals, Abbeys and Churches»Strata Florida Abbey, Cerredigion

A Cistercian foundation, a daughter house of Whitland Abbey, itself a founded from Citeau, dating from 1164 although translated from its original site in 1184. Sadly little remains of Strata Florida beyond the ouline at foundation level of the abey church. Like all Cistrecian foundation, the setting is remote and stunning fertile place at Henfynachlog. Rhys ap Gruffudd, prince of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales, re-founded the Abbey in 1184 on its present site, and it then became an important cultural centre for the independent Welsh kingdoms. Some of the earliest and most important texts in Welsh, including the Hendregadredd and White Book of Rhydderch Manuscripts, were almost certainly written in the Abbey, and Welsh poets, including the most famous of them all, Dafydd ap Gwilym, sang its praises. The monks identified with the Welsh princes and their hopes for an independent identity, and many of these leaders and their kin were buried at Strata Florida. The Abbey paid a price for its loyalty, however, at the hands of the English armies of Edward I and during the rising of Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Welshman to hold the title of Prince of Wales and who led a war of independence against the English. Dissolved 1539 and lands granted to Thomas Cromwell.