Carmarthen Priory, now virtually disappeared, was a

monastic settlement Monastic settlements are areas built up in and around the development of monasteries with the spread of Christianity. To understand Christian monastic settlements, we must understand a brief history of Christian monasticism. Monasticism was a move ...

which pre-dated the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. It was dedicated to

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on h ...

and the Celtic saint Teulyddog. The

Black Book of Carmarthen The Black Book of Carmarthen () is thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written solely in Welsh. The book dates from the mid-13th century; its name comes from its association with the Priory of St. John the Evangelist and Teulyddog ...

, an early Welsh language text, is believed to have been created at the Priory.

Origins

A Celtic monastic settlement, Llandeulyddog, existed at

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

prior to the Norman Conquest. Following the establishment of a royal castle at Carmarthen in 1109, the newly built St Peter's Church and the older church at Llandeulyddog were placed under the jurisdiction of

Battle Abbey Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument. The Grade I listed site is now o ...

. In 1125, however, ownership reverted to the Bishop of St Davids who established an Augustinian priory on the site.

The Black Book of Carmarthen

In the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuries, ''Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin'' (the Black Book of Carmarthen) was transcribed at the priory. It is the earliest complete manuscript in the Welsh language, being a combination of transcriptions of older manuscripts and original works produced at the time and transcribed by an individual monk. It survived the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century and is now held at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

. The ruins were destroyed in the eighteenth century to make way for a

lead smelting Plants for the production of lead are generally referred to as lead smelters. Primary lead production begins with sintering. Concentrated lead ore is fed into a sintering machine with iron, silica, limestone fluxes, coke, soda ash, pyrite, zinc ...

works.

References

Sources

* {{Coord, 51.8606, -4.2977, region:GB-WLS, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures in Carmarthen Former Christian monasteries in the United Kingdom