Llanthony Priory (Priordy Llanddewi Nant Hodni), ruins of a former Augustinian priory in the secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep-sided once-glaciated vale
the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, SE Wales. It lies seven miles north of Abergavenny on an old road to Hay-on-Wye at Llanthony, lying to the west of the prominent Hatterall Ridge. They are under the care of Cadw. The priory is a Grade I listed building. Within the precincts are three other buildings with Grade I listed status: the Abbey Hotel, St David's Church and Court Farm Barn. It dates back to around the year 1100, when Norman nobleman Walter de Lacy came upon a ruined chapel of St. David and was inspired to devote himself to solitary prayer and study. He was joined by Ersinius, a former Chaplain to Queen Matilda, the wife of King Henry I. A church was built dedicated to St John the Baptist, consecrated in 1108. By 1118, a group of around 40 monks from England founded there a priory of Canons Regular, the first in Wales. In 1135, after persistent attacks from the local Welsh population, the monks retreated to Gloucester where they founded a daughter cell, Llanthony Secunda. However, around 1186 Hugh de Lacy, endowed the estate to rebuild the priory church, completed by 1217. The Priory became one of the great medieval buildings in Wales, in a mixture of Norman and Gothic architectural styles. In 1327, the deposed Edward II stayed at the Priory on his way from Kenilworth Castle to Berkeley Castle, where he was murdered. In 1481 it merged with its daughter cell in Gloucester, and after 1538 both houses were suppressed by Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The buildings at Llanthony gradually decayed after the Dissolution to a ruin, although in the early 18th century the medieval infirmary was converted to the Church of St David. In 1799 the estate was bought by Colonel Sir Mark Wood, the owner of Piercefield House near Chepstow, who converted some of the buildings into a domestic house and shooting box. He then sold the estate in 1807 to the poet Walter Savage Landor. Landor
Size: 4912px × 7360px
Location: Llanthony, Wales
Photo credit: © Philip Chapman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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