Cymer Abbey, or to give it the correct
name, Kymer deu Dyfyr means the meeting of the waters, and the abbey is sited at
the meeting of the river Mawd-dach and the river Wnion. It is a peaceful
setting, or it would be without the traffic roaring on the by-pass and the
holiday makers in the small camping and caravanning park, that has sprung up
alongside. But, despite these modern day intrusions, it is still possible to
discern the original peace and quiet that first drew the Cistercians to the
spot in 1198.
The Cistercians sought places 'far from the concourse of men'; somewhere to contemplate God and their own human
failing. Cymer must have seemed ideal. It was founded in 1158-9, its first
patron Maredudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd, Lord of Merioneth. The church was
dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The first monks to settle at
Cymer came from Cwmhir Abbey in Powys, a sister house of Whitland which was
itself founded by monks from the mother house of Clairvaux in Burgundy. Cymer
was never a large house, the monks existing in poverty and piety, their living subsidised
by sheep and dairy farming and horse breeding. Cymer was noted for the fine
horses it provided to Llewellyn ap Iorwerth, more widely known as Llewellyn Fawr
(the Great.)
Cistercian buildings were
traditionally stark and undecorated but even by Cistercian standards Cymer is
remarkably plain and the buildings were never extensive. In the early days the
monks lodged in wooden structures, the stone buildings being built over the following years of
local boulders and rubble. Only the dressed stone around the windows and doors
was cut from buff sandstone and a few carvings in red sandstone.
Today, all that remains standing of
the monastery itself are parts of the abbey church. It was never a large
building, measuring no more than 105 feet internally. The aisles are separated
from the central church by solid stone walls with three arcaded bays on the
western side. The eastern wall has three tall windows remaining and the remains
of three smaller ones are just discernible above. These windows illuminated the
church interior and allowed the light of the lord to flood in.
The remains of the seats used by
the officiating priest, his deacon and the sub deacon during mass can still be
seen. At the opposite end there is an unusual diversion from the conventional Cistercian
model in the remains of a tower with a few worn steps which would once have led
to the top. The lack of conventional tower is further evidence of the poverty
at Cymer.
Only the footings of the cloister
and other monastic buildings now remain and there is evidence that the lay
brother’s range may never have been completed. The cloister, chapter house and
dining hall are all in their expected positions on the south side, but their
planning suggests that the monks anticipated a future enlargement of the church.
The nearby farmhouse has been
built on the site of the medieval guest house, the post dissolution building
utilising much of the abbey stone. The original building, which would have
contained the abbot’s lodging, was a single storey hall and the fifteenth century
timber roof still survives but is not accessible by the public.
In 1291 the annual income at
Cymer was £28 8s 3d and records show that by 1388 there were just five monks remaining;
financial debt, made worse by the war waged by Edward I, is believed to have
initiated the decline. By 1535 when Cromwell began his inventory of all monastic
property, Cymer’s annual income was just £51. It was dissolved by 1537 but in
the nineteenth century a large silver gilt chalice and paten (Eucharist plate) were
discovered hidden in the hills above the monastery and are now in the National
Museum in Cardiff. You can read more about the chalice and Paten by clicking here.
It is impossible for the modern
day visitor to imagine the hardships of medieval Cymer. We turn up in our
waterproofs, our bellies recently filled at the local hostelry, our bodies
strong from years of good nutrition and modern day dentistry. The monks at
Cymer had to work hard for every mouthful, they were frozen by the wind and
snow, wet through by the wicked Welsh rains, and their rough woolen habits probably
left to dry on their bodies. Their accommodation was stark and windowless and
the stone floors upon which they prayed were cold and unyielding. Records suggest
that toward the end of the abbey’s life religious observation had slipped. The state
rolls of Henry VIII claim that many monastic settlements were nests of evil
where “manifest synne, vicyous carnall and abhomynable lyvyng, is dayly used
and comytted comonly in suchlytell and smalle Abbeys Pryoryes and other
Relygyous Houses of Monks, Chanons & Nonnes...” (HOL,Henry VIII, Roll of Parliament,) but perhaps in retrospect
we can be a little less judgemental. After all Henry VIII and Cromwell had an
agenda, they craved the destruction of the monasteries and wanted to get their
hands on monastic wealth.
The impoverished monks of Cymer
were a different breed from the fat, grasping abbots of the larger houses that
we are so used to hearing about. If they hid their only two treasured items up
in the hills away from the greedy hands of Cromwell and his king, who can blame
them? And if they sometimes skimped on Matins in favour of the meagre warmth offered
by their narrow beds well, we all roll over in the morning and hide under our
own pillows. And if, starved of human contact, they turned to each other to
indulge in a little ‘manifest synne’ I can understand and forgive them for that
too. They were after all human beings living in absolute penury and I am far too fond of
the comforts of my own soft warm duvet to stand in judgement upon them.
Cymer Abbey lies near the village
of Llanelltyd, just north of Dolgellau, Gwynedd, in north-west Wales, United
Kingdom. Entry is free.
Interesting about the hidden chalice and paten! I could spend a lifetime snooping around the British Isles.
ReplyDeleteI've added a link to more info about the chalice and paten now Debra, and if you are ever in Wales, you are welcome to stay at ours.
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