St Dogmaels

A spiritual and cultural powerhouse on the banks of the River Teifi, once famed for its impressive library. One of St Dogmaels’ literary gems, the 13th century Eusebius’s Historia Ecclesiastica, survives to this day in St John’s College, Cambridge.

St Dogmaels Abbey was formally founded by Robert fitz Martin and his wife, Maud Peverel, on 10th September 1120, and built on, or very near to, the site of the ancient pre-Norman-conquest church of Llandudoch. The church which stands alongside the Abbey today is, however, of much later Victorian origins. Links with the medieval past remain amongst the ruins of the old abbey church where original 15th century floor tiles can still be seen in large areas along the length of the nave.

The site takes its name from Dogmael, a 6th century Christian saint, reputedly the cousin of St David, Wales’s very own patron saint. Although initially inhabited by French monks, St Dogmaels may have been one of the first Norman abbeys to recruit locally.

Construction of the Abbey continued from the 12th through to the 16th century when, following the Dissolution, it was converted into a private mansion. High profile individuals such as Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) and the Archbishop of Canterbury enjoyed the overnight hospitality of the Abbey.