 Neath Abbey
A small group of monks from Savigny in western Normandy arrived at Neath
in 1130 to colonise a new monastery of the Savigniac Order. The construction
of a stone church commenced immediately and, by the time Cistercian
rule had absorbed the Savigniac monks in 1147, the first building had
probably been completed. Certainly there are architectural remains dating
back to the 12th century to suggest that a substantial part
of the west range was also finished within the first 50 years.
Neath Abbey today is an extraordinary
complex of monastic medieval ruins, the substantial remains of a grand
Tudor residence, and fragments of 18th century industrial furnaces.
Such a busy, ever-changing post-Dissolution period almost belies the quiet
existence that the Cistercian monks must have enjoyed for over 400 years
in this part of Wales. During medieval times, the most common source of
income for many abbeys was from farming and, with generous land endowments
from Richard de Granville, Neath Abbey became one of the wealthiest monasteries
in Wales by the end of the 13th century.
Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries a significant programme of rebuilding
took place. Many of the claustral buildings were renewed, and a huge,
new Gothic church replaced the original, simple structure. The west
front has survived to some degree, although missing its great window,
and gives a clear indication of the original scale and splendour of
this Decorated church. Along the length of the nave, the walls have
remained standing to a good height. The bases of two chapel altars are
still visible in the north transept, a rare stone handrail set above
the remains of the monks' night stairs can be seen on the west wall
of the south transept, and in the south choir aisle some lovely examples
of medieval floor tiles have survived.
Only fragmented remains of the cloister and domestic ranges can be found among the ruins of the
Tudor mansion, but there is one remarkable chamber of the Cistercian
monastery that has survived almost intact. Originally the monks' day
room, this splendid rib-vaulted undercroft was probably used as the
servants' hall when the Tudor house was created. By the end of the 17th
century the mansion was no longer occupied, its structure later utilised
to provide basic housing for the men working the copper-smelting furnaces
on site. By the end of this era, Neath Abbey must have been virtually
unrecognisable.
In the early 1920s a massive clearance operation began, before the site was excavated to reveal the
extensive remains. Some 4,000 tons of debris were removed from the abbey
with the help of Glen Arthur Taylor, leader of the Neath Abbey Research
Party, and it is due to his efforts that this magnificent monastery was
not lost forever among industrial waste, and the encroaching modern docks
complex of Swansea. |
