1. A Priory of Cistercian nuns was founded around 1180 by Rees ap Gruffydd (the Lord Rees). There are said to have been 16 nuns. The priory was nationalised in 1536. The site is thought to lie some 180m north-west of the current mansion house (NPRN 5654).

Elements of the medieval establishment may have been incorporated in a Tudor house (NPRN 419402). This is known only from depictions of about 1684 and 1768. The earlier sketch appears to show the main north-north-east to south-south-west wing as comprising a central hall, with projecting porch and oriel window, flanked by a solar on the north and service block to the south. Traces of this house, demolished in about 1830 , were noted around 1970. A chapel site (NPRN 419394) is depicted on historic Ordnance Survey mapping, and may possibly have belonged to the nunnery. The presence of an early medieval memorial stone (NPRN 303887), found when the Tudor house was demolished, hints at the existence of an earlier ecclesiastical site. The site has been subsumed in later park/gardens (NPRN 86798).

Sources include:
Lewes in Ceredigion 6 (1971), 341-349
Williams 'Atlas of Cistercian Lands in Wales' (1990), 46
Palmer et al. 'Historic Parks & Gardens in Ceredigion' (2004), 60-2

RCAHMW 12.10.04

2. Excavations during the summer of 2014 were led by the Dyfed Archaeological Trust, and were photographed during RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance on 11th June 2014. The 2014 excavations revealed remains of what is thought to be an 18th century garden and associated buildings, but did not locate remains of the nunnery.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, Dec 2014