Whitland Abbey

📍 Carmarthenshire, Wales

3.5 ★★★½ 180 reviews

About

Whitland Abbey was a country house and Cistercian abbey in the parish of Llangan, in what was the hundred of Narberth, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The town which grew up nearby is now named Whitland after it. It was widely known as Ty Gwyn ar Daf, meaning White House on the Taf, in reference to the country house originally built here before it became a monastic settlement which was known under that name. It is most associated with being the place where Hywel Dda drew up his laws around 940. It functioned as a Cistercian monastery between the 12th and 16th centuries.

Founded c.1140 as the first Cistercian abbey in Wales (originally at Treffgarne before moving to Whitland c.1151). It was the mother house of numerous Welsh Cistercian foundations including Strata Florida and Strata Marcella. The Laws of Hywel Dda were traditionally codified at Whitland in the 10th century. Only fragmentary foundations survive, revealed by excavation in a quiet meadow. A memorial garden marks the site.