- Basingwerk Abbey
Basingwerk Abbey ( _cy. Abaty Dinas Basing) is the
ruin of anabbey nearHolywell ,Flintshire ,Wales , in the care ofCadw (Welsh Heritage).It was founded in
1132 byRanulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester , and monks fromSavigny Abbey settled there. In 1147, the abbey became part of the Cistercian Order and therefore a daughter house ofBuildwas Abbey inShropshire . In 1157, the abbey was given the manor ofGlossop by King Henry II. The hilltop Monks' Road in Glossop is a reminder of the monks' efforts to administer their possession. Earlier on, they had received the manor ofWest Kirby from the Earls of Chester. In the 13th century, the abbey was under the patronage ofLlywelyn the Great , Prince of Gwynedd, and his sonDafydd ap Llywelyn gaveSt Winefride's Well to the abbey. The monks harnessed the power of the Holywell stream to run a corn mill and to treat the wool from their sheep. In 1536, abbey life came to an end with theDissolution of the Monasteries .Two centuries earlier a Welsh seer, Robin Ddu ("Robin the Dark") said the roof on the refectory would do very nicely on a little church under
Moel Famau . It did. When the abbey was sold, the roof went toCilcain church and the amazingJesse window went to the church atLlanrhaeadr-yng-Ngheinmeirch .Today, the abbey ruin is part of
Greenfield Valley Heritage Park .External links
Pictures of Abbey remains:
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/fun/ecards/images/basingwerk_abbey_410x303.jpgBasingwerk Abbey at BBC Wales]
* [http://www.holywell-town.co.uk/images/abbey.jpgBasingwerk Abbey at Holywell town website]
* [http://fromoldbooks.org/HistoryOfWales/pages/43-Basingwerk-Abbey/43-Basingwerk-Abbey-q75-500x304.jpgBasingwerk Abbey in old books]
* [http://www.gtj.org.uk/search/simpleSearch.php?srch=Basingwerk&lang=en Artifacts relating to Basingwerk on Gathering the Jewels, the website of Welsh cultural history]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3163577 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Basingwerk Abbey and surrounding area today]Further reading
*Edward Hubbard "Buildings of Wales: Clwyd", ISBN 0-14-071052-3
*Gordon Emery, "Curious Clwyd" (1994) ISBN 1-872265-99-5
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