Editing Neath Abbey

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}

[[File:Neath abbey, Glamorgan - founded by Richard De Cranville, circa 1129.jpeg|thumb|Neath abbey, 1849]]
'''Neath Abbey''' ({{langx|cy|Abaty Nedd}}) was a [[Cistercian]] [[monastery]], located near the present-day town of [[Neath]] in [[South Wales]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]. It was once the largest [[abbey]] in [[Wales]]. Substantial ruins can still be seen, and are in the care of [[Cadw]]. [[Tudor period|Tudor]] historian [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] called Neath Abbey "the fairest abbey of all Wales."

== History ==
[[Image:Neath abbey.JPG|right|thumb|Ruins of Neath Abbey]]
Neath Abbey was established in 1129 AD when [[Richard I de Grenville]] (d.post 1142), one of the [[Twelve Knights of Glamorgan]], gave {{convert|8000|acre}} of his estate in [[Glamorgan]], [[Wales]], to [[Savigniac]] [[monk]]s from western [[Normandy]].<ref name=ggat>{{Watprn|GGAT|00585w|title=Neath Abbey}}</ref> The first monks arrived in 1130. Following the merging of the Savigniac order into the [[Cistercian]] order in 1147, Neath Abbey also became a Cistercian house. The abbey was ravaged by the Welsh uprisings of the 13th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Biebrach |first=Rhianydd |date=2014 |title='The Fairest Abbay of Al Wales': Neath Abbey and its Estates |journal=Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies|volume=3 |pages=97–118 |doi=10.1484/J.JMMS.5.102723 |issn=2034-3515}}</ref> During the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] by King [[Henry VIII]] of England the last abbot, [[Lleision ap Thomas]], managed to buy time through payment of a large fine in 1536, but the abbey was dissolved in 1539.<ref>{{Cite DWB|id=s-LLEI-THO-1513|last=Saunders |first=Evan John|year=1970|title=Lleision ap Thomas|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> In letters to the Cistercian General Chapter, Lleision served as a spokesman for the Welsh abbeys.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Letters from the English abbots to the chapter at Cîteaux, 1442-1521 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |editor-last=Talbot |editor-first=C. H. |location=London |publication-date=1967 |pages=260}}</ref>

At this time, the abbey was turned into a large estate, initially granted to Richard Williams, although by 1600 it was owned by [[John Herbert (Secretary of State)|Sir John Herbert]], and had a substantial Tudor mansion occupying a part of the cloisters. The mansion itself was only habitable for 100 years or so, before being abandoned as the site became a scene of industry.<ref name="coflein">{{Watprn|coflein|133|title=Neath Abbey}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
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==Industrial use==
By 1730, some of the buildings were being used for [[copper smelting]], and the rest were abandoned. In the late 18th century, an [[iron foundry]] was opened near the abbey ruins by a company owned by the Price, Fox and Tregelles families.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neath Abbey Iron Co |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Neath_Abbey_Iron_Co |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=Grace's Guide To British Industrial History}}</ref> The ruined walls of both the Abbey and later mansion were gradually engulfed in quantities of industrial waste. The ownership of the site passed to the Rice family, [[Baron Dynevor|Barons Dynevor]], and it was in the 1920s, under [[Walter FitzUryan Rice, 7th Baron Dynevor]] that a local group of amateur archaeologists began the process of uncovering the medieval ruins.<ref name=nas/>

==Archaeology==
[[Image:Neath Abbey - 49874739906.jpg|thumb|Ruins of Neath Abbey]]
The [[archaeology]] of the abbey was eventually excavated between 1924 and 1935. The Neath Antiquarian Society was the driving force in this early archaeology, in which 7,000 tons of slag and other industrial waste were removed by hand, to uncover the abbey ruins.<ref name=nas>{{cite web|url=http://www.spanglefish.com/neathantiquariansociety/index.asp?pageid=637090|title=The Neath Abbey Research Party|publisher=Neath Antiquarian Society|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> In 1944 the ownership passed to the Ministry of Works, who undertook further stabilization of the walls. In 2014 [[Cadw]], the successor body charged with the site's care, began a substantial project to further protect and stabilize parts of the ruins. The site is open to the public with some interpretation display boards on site.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/neathabbeyandgatehouse/?lang=en|website=Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service|title=Neath Abbey and Gatehouse|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref>

==Gatehouse==
North of the abbey ruins are the remains of the gatehouse which would have controlled access into the abbey precinct. It now stands on New Road alongside the playground of Abbey Primary School. It was originally built around 1130, but the most prominent surviving features, two pointed windows that face onto the road, date from the 13th or 14th century.<ref>{{watprn|GGAT|00587w|title=Neath Abbey Gatehouse}}</ref>

== Commercial use ==
A [[motorcycle speedway]] track was constructed in 1962 and the [[Neath Welsh Dragons]] rode for one year adjacent to the Abbey. The west side of the Abbey was so close to the banking that the Abbey ruins looked as though it formed part of the track.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000844/19620107/284/0029 |title=Neath search for speed stars |website=Sunday Mirror |date=7 January 1962 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=10 February 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Speedway Dragons second in P.L. Championship |work=Porthcawl Guardian |date=19 October 1962 |access-date=16 November 2023 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004337/19621019/310/0009 | via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The area adjacent to the ruins is used by a car retailer and a number of smaller businesses and workshops.

The site has been used to film several episodes of television series [[Doctor Who]]. The Time Lord (played by [[Matt Smith (actor)|Matt Smith]]) and his companion [[Amy Pond]] ([[Karen Gillan]]) have filmed several times at the site, which was transformed into a complete structure.

The site was also used for shots during the filming of the BBC television series Merlin, for example the castle of the ancient kings where Arthur rediscovered the round table in Series 3 episode 13
[[File:Hendrik Frans de Cort - A view of Neath Abbey with Gnoll's Castle beyond.jpg|thumb|300px|A view of Neath Abbey (c. 1800) by [[Hendrik Frans de Cort]]]]

==Nearest places==
*[[Neath]]
*[[Bryncoch]]
*[[Skewen]]
*[[Caewern]]
*[[Pontrhydyfen]]

==See also==
*[[Neath (UK Parliament constituency)]]
*[[GWR 4073 Class|Neath Abbey Castle Class steam locomotive]]
*[[List of Scheduled Monuments in Neath Port Talbot]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://eventpicture.co.uk/TourismWalesAbbeysNeathAbbeyCistercianmonasteryNeathAbbeysofWales.aspx www.EventPicture.co.uk : FREE pictures of Neath Abbey]
*[https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2832250 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Neath Abbey]
*[http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/abbeys/neath.php Neath Abbey article from a website on Cistercian abbeys]
*[http://www.castlewales.com/neath_a.html Castle Wales website with good illustrations]
*[http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item1/361 Gathering the Jewels website on Welsh Cultural History - includes aerial photograph of the Abbey site]
*[http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~waggy/abbey.htm Neath Abbey Ironworks]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061209055336/http://cistercian-way.newport.ac.uk/place.asp?PlaceID=70 Cistercian Way website - article on the Iron Works]
*[http://www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives/index.cfm?articleid=8305 West Glamorgan Archives service- records relating to Neath Abbey]

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{{Scheduled Monuments in Wales}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Neath]]
[[Category:Ruins in Wales]]
[[Category:Cistercian monasteries in Wales]]
[[Category:1129 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Industrial archaeology]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1120s]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Neath Port Talbot]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1129]]
[[Category:Ruined abbeys and monasteries]]
[[Category:12th-century establishments in Wales]]
[[Category:Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation]]