Kidwelly Priory was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey in

Kidwelly Kidwelly ( cy, Cydweli) is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales, approximately northwest of the most populous town in the county, Llanelli. In the 2001 census the community of Kidwelly returned a population of 3,289, inc ...

, Wales (in Welsh, '). Roger,

bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

(d.1139), a Norman invader founded the priory of Kidwelly, but it seems to have been a place of

Celtic Christian Celtic Christianity ( kw, Kristoneth; cy, Cristnogaeth; gd, Crìosdaidheachd; gv, Credjue Creestee/Creestiaght; ga, Críostaíocht/Críostúlacht; br, Kristeniezh; gl, Cristianismo celta) is a form of Christianity that was common, or held ...

veneration of Saint Cadog for some centuries prior to that. It was a daughter abbey of

Sherborne Abbey Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It has been a Saxon cathedral (705–1075), a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539), and since 1539, ...

, and although well documented in the historical record it appears to have remained small for its extent. It was dissolved 1539, by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Today the abbey remains a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, St Mary's with much of the surviving fabric dates to the fourteenth century, c. 1320.

Priors of Kidwelly

Priors of Kidwelly Medieval Kidwelly Priory by GLANMOR WILLIAMS
* 1240 Abraham * 1268 Gervase * 1284 Ralph de Bemenster * 1301 Galfridus de Coker * 1346 Robert Dunster * 1361 John Flode * 1399 Philip Morevyle * 1404 John de Kidwelly * 1428 Robert Fyfhede * 1438 John Cauntville * 1482 John Sherborne * 1487 John Henstrige * 1520 John Whitchurche * 1534 John Godmyston * 1539 John Painter

References

Benedictine monasteries in Wales 1539 disestablishments {{UK-religious-struct-stub