Nicholas Mutton · CC BY-SA 2.0 Why visit
Tintern Abbey is worth allowing time for because it combines monastic architecture, ruins and the historical setting of a religious community. The site is more useful than a quick photograph: its surviving features give clear evidence of how the place developed and how people used it. Key things to concentrate on are main landscape viewpoints and geological, coastal, moorland or mountain features. Its position in or near Tintern also makes it a practical anchor for exploring the surrounding region without reducing the visit to a simple landmark stop.
What you will see
- main landscape viewpoints.
- geological, coastal, moorland or mountain features.
History
Tintern Abbey was founded for Cistercian monks in 1131. The great Gothic church was built mainly in the 13th century and became a celebrated Romantic landscape after the Dissolution left it in ruins.
Photographs
Nicholas Mutton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · full attribution on the image credits page.
Visitor tips
- 1
Allow enough time for the principal features rather than treating the stop only as a photograph.
- 2
Check the official visitor page shortly before travel for access, booking and any temporary restrictions.
About South and West Wales
Cardiff’s historic core, Pembrokeshire coast, Bannau Brycheiniog mountains and the Wye Valley’s monastic heritage.
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