A church, probably a monastic settlement, existed before the arrival of the Normans in 1093. This was known as Llan Teulydawc. The church was granted to Battle Abbey before the end of the eleventh century and seems to have been a monastic cell. The monks departed when ownership passed to the Bishop of St Davids in about 1125 and a house of Augustinian Cannons was institued in their place. This was disolved in 1536. At this time there were said to have recently been twelve resident canons and that there about eighty persons were daily about the Priory. Following the disolution part of the buildings was converted into a mansion, however, the site seems to have declined from the early seventeenth century.
The chief surviving feature is the late medieval gatehouse (NPRN 100039), now divided into four houses, but retaining its arched entrance. A small fragment of the church is preserved in the wall at the southern corner of Parc Hinds playing fields. The footings and some lower courses of the precinct wall are preserved in the playing field's north-west wall. The conventual buildings were eventually demolished in about 1781 to make way for a lead smelting works. More medieval remains were lost to the railway in 1855-60.
Excavations in 1979 recorded parts of the priory church and cloister, and many human bones. Earlier features included a Roman period ditch and early medieval features.
Sources: James in Archaeologia Cambrensis 134 for 1985 (1986), 120-161
CADW Listed Buildings Database (9508 - Precint Wall; 9506 - Church wall fragment)
John Wiles 23.11.07
Resources
DownloadTypeSourceDescription
application/pdfDAT - Dyfed Archaeological Trust ReportsDigital report on 'Later Medieval and Early Post-Medieval Threat Related Assessment Work 2012: Monasteries'. Compiled by DAT for Cadw. Report No: 2012/12. Project Record No: 102639.