Llanthony Priory
Atmospheric ruins of a 13th Century Priory in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) Black Mountains between Abergavenny and Hay-on-Wye
A Medieval Masterpiece
The Priory remains you can see today date from the 13th century, when the Priory was re-established and the church rebuilt.
Llanthony Priory sits today this tranquil and remote valley, but in the 13th Century it would truly have been a spectacular site to behold, and the Priory Church was one of the greatest buildings of medieval Wales.
Welcome to Llanthony Priory
The original 12th Century buildings were destroyed during attacks on the (mainly English) community, which forced the monks to retreat to Hereford and Gloucester. The lost buildings of the first church were endowed by the wealthy nobleman William de Lacy in the early 1100s
The English ruled Wales and the Priory was restored in the late 12th and 13th Century when it was in it’s prime,.
In the early 15th century it was again attacked, during the rebellion led by the great Welsh Prince Owain Glyndŵr. The Priory was one of many of the great buildings of Wales attacked, as the occupied Welsh fought to recapture land from the English.
During this upheaval most of the religious community at Llanthony retreated once again to Hereford and Gloucester.
By the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, under King Henry VIII, only four canons remained at Llanthony. The site was sold for £160, the buildings reduced to ruins and left to crumble for hundreds of years.
The beautiful remains of the Priory that survive today, with its large windows and grand archways, are clues to the importance of this site in its heyday and the devotion of the monks who lived here.