The ruins of the Abbey of St Mary, stand at the northern end of

Bardsey Island Bardsey Island (), known as the legendary "Island of 20,000 Saints", is located off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Wales, Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh language, Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", while its English name refers to t ...

, south-west of the Lleyn Peninsula, in

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, Wales. The site has had religious importance from at least the 6th century when

Saint Cadfan Cadfan (), was the 6th century founder-abbot of Tywyn (whose church is dedicated to him) and Bardsey, both in Gwynedd, Wales. He was said to have received the island of Bardsey from Einion Frenin, king of Llŷn, around 516 and to have serv ...

founded an abbey there. In the following centuries the island became an important place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

and 20,000 saints are reputedly buried on the island. By the end of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the abbey had declined in importance and, following the Dissolution of the monasteries, fell into ruin. In the 18th century, more substantial remains were still standing, but by the 20th only the current remnant of a tower remained. The ruins are a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. Three

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

es set among the ruins are listed at Grade II.

History and description

is reputed to have arrived on the island in the 5th century and the following centuries saw it become a place of high importance as a centre for

and as a sanctuary for Christians escaping persecution. St Cadfal is said to have built the first abbey on the St Mary's site.

Dubricius Dubricius or Dubric (; Norman-French: ''Devereux''; c. 465 – c. 550) was a 6th-century British ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng () (later Archenfield, Herefordshire) and much of south-east Wales. ...

, Archbishop of Caerleon, who had resigned in favour of

Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...

, retired to Bardsey. It became a centre of the Culdee order, an ascetic Christian order that originated in Ireland. It was mentioned by

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales (; ; ; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He ...

in ''

Itinerarium Cambriae The ''Itinerarium Cambriae'' ("The Itinerary Through Wales") is a medieval account of a journey made by Gerald of Wales, written in Latin. Gerald was selected to accompany the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Forde, on a tour of Wales in 1 ...

'' as a community of "very religious monks". By the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

the island was reputedly the burial place of some 20,000 saints. It became one of the three Welsh pilgrimage sites of national importance, and

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

visited in 1284. The Dissolution saw the destruction of the abbey and it subsequently fell into ruins. By the 20th century, only the fragment of one tower remained. Richard Haslam, Julian Orbach and Adam Voelcker, in their 2009 edition ''Gwynedd'', in the Buildings of Wales series, note its setting within a walled enclosure. The

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. ...

records the dimensions of the "two-stage" tower as 5.8m square with 1.0m thick walls and standing 8.0m high. The ruins are a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and a

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. Three

es within the abbey grounds are listed at Grade II.

Footnotes

References

Sources

External links

RCAHMW photographic survey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardsey Island, St Mary's Abbey ruins Grade I listed churches in Gwynedd 12th-century church buildings in Wales Grade I listed buildings in Gwynedd Scheduled monuments in Wales