DESTINATIONS UK
ST DOGMAELS
AND CARDIGAN, WEST WALES
|
|
|
St Dogmaels occupies a
beautiful situation, overlooking the River Teifi opposite the town of
Cardigan.
Perhaps best known for its
abbey, this small community was an important herring fishery in the 18th
century and during the second half of the 19th century, the village grew
rapidly, largely due to the flourishing ship building industry on the
Teifi. Fine 19th century warehouses and lime kilns can still be seen
along the river reflecting the wealth and importance of St Dogmaels during
this time.
 
The ruins of the abbey
dominate the community. Founded by Robert Fitz-Martin
and his wife, Maud Peverel, as a priory
in 1113 for just 12 monks and a prior, it was raised to abbey status in
1120. Although the abbey church was not completed until midway through the
thirteenth century, much of the domestic accommodation must have been
built by 1188, when Gerald of Wales and the Archbishop of Canterbury
enjoyed the hospitality of Prince Rhys whilst staying overnight at St
Dogmael's Abbey. There have been ecclesiastical buildings on this
site from the 6th century.
The monks followed an austere life based
on the rule of St Benedict and life must have been made even more
difficult due to the many periods of war. The monastery was struck by the
plague in the middle of the 14th century and by the end of the century,
there were only four monks still living there. By 1504 the situation had
improved slightly, with the abbey now being well-maintained and an
increase in the number of monks. However when St Dogmael's Abbey was
dissolved in 1536, there were just eight monks and the abbot in residence
at the monastery.
 After
the dissolution of the abbey, the buildings were leased to John Bradshaw
of Presteigne. He built a mansion for himself within the abbey walls from
stone robbed from the buildings, but this was short-lived and the site was
described as a ruin in 1603.
The ruins on this steeply sloping site
span four centuries of monastic life. Parts of the church and cloister are
12th century. The west and north walls of the nave, which stand almost to
their full height, date from the 13th century whist the floor tiles here
are 15th century. The footings of the chapter house to the west of the
cloister can also be seen, and also the ruins of the adjacent monk's
infirmary which stand almost to roof level. The nave was used as the
parish church until a new one was built in the early 18th century.
St Dogmaels is now a popular holiday
destination. The abbey has been in the care of the state since 1934 and is
now one of the visitor attractions of the region. The early 19th century
mill is also preserved and open to the public.
Poppit Sands, a little
further down the estuary has a beautiful sandy beach and is the start of
the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
Cardigan is an ancient market town on
the Teifi estuary, with many Georgian and Victorian buildings, traditional
shops, inns and restaurants.
Cardigan Castle, built by Gilbert de
Clare and dating back to the 12th century, was the site of the first
National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1176. In 1244, a new castle was erected
with town walls for added protection and it is the remains of this
building that still stand overlooking the river. During the first 100
years of its life, the castle frequently changed hands between the Normans
and the Welsh. In 1645 the castle was attacked by Oliver Cromwell's
soldiers during the English Civil War and was so badly damaged that it
remained uninhabited until the early 1800s when a private mansion, Castle
Green House, was built on the property. The castle is currently undergoing
a complete restoration programme.
Cardigan had been a port
since the early Middle Ages because of its position on the banks of the
Teifi, the gateway to the fertile Teifi valley. In mediaeval times, the
import of fish and export of local produce, oak bark, salted herrings and
Cilgerran slates to Ireland and the western parts of the British Isles
increased Cardigan's importance as a trading centre.
By Elizabethan times,
Cardigan had grown into the most important Welsh port with the exception
of Milford Haven. During the 17th century the ship building industry
became established here, along with sail and rope making, lime burning and
iron founding. During the eighteenth century, the port of Cardigan grew
larger still. A customs house was built in St Mary's Street opposite
Chancery Lane. The ship building industry flourished at Cardigan,
Netpool and St Dogmaels. Hundreds of ships were built on the Teifi, some
up to 400 tonnes.
The port brought prosperity
to the area. By the early 1800s, over 300 ships were registered at
Cardigan, employing 1000 men. Its ships left for destinations as far away
as Argentina, the Canary Islands, USA and Canada. Some of these ships
carried people, indeed Cardigan became one of the country's largest ports
for transatlantic emigration, sending ships like the Active and Albion to
New Brunswick in Canada and the Triton to New York.
By the end of the 18th
century, the sailing ship was beginning to be replaced by steam ship.
This, together with the silting up of the river and the arrival of
the railway in 1885, contributed to Cardigan's decline as an
international port. Despite attempts to revive the port's prosperity after
World War I, its decline continued.
The large cargo ships are
long gone and have now been replaced by leisure craft and pleasure boats
as the tourism industry brings new prosperity to Cardigan in the 21st
century.
İHUK
USEFUL
LINKS
Accommodation
in St Dogmaels and Cardigan
|