Abbey of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Margam

This Abbey was founded in the second half of the 12th Century by the Earl of Gloucester. It was a daughter house to Clairvaux Abbey.

It is believed that the abbey was built near to the site of a Celtic monastic house. Carved stones and monuments in the nearby Stones Museum point to an early Cristian presence.

The Cistercians worked the land and reared sheep, and they usually chose a remote site for their monasteries. It is reckoned that construction took around 40 years to be completed.

The abbey became, like many monasteries, a great centre of learning, and became very important in the social, cultural and religious life of this area of South Wales.

In 1536, Margam Abbey, like so many other abbeys, was dissolved by King HenryVIII, and was sold to Sir Rice Mansell.

For further information, and much more detail about the history of Margam Abbey,please click on the link below, where you will find much more about the history of this old Abbey.

The ruins of some of the Abbey still stand, and they give a clear impression of what a majestic building it must have been when the Cistercian monks lived and worked in this area.

http://www.margamabbey.co.uk/

The photos show what remains of the original abbey church and of some of the ruins still standing.

Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary

This cathedral was founded in the year 680, bit nothing of that building remains.

The crypt of the present building dates back to the 10th Century and Saint Oswald who was Bishop of Worcester.

According to Bede there had been nuns and monks on this site from the 7th Century, and around the year 970, the Benedictine Order arrived here. They stayed till they were driven out in 1540.

The cathedral is the burial place of King John, Prince Arthur Tudor ( brother of HenryVIII), and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

The cathedral also had 2 shrines, one for St Wulstan and one for St Oswald. These shrines were destroyed during the Reformation. Wulstan was the lastsurviving pre conquest Bishop, and the only English born Bishop after 1075.

Oswald of Worcester, not to be confused with Oswald of Northumbria, was Archbishop of York from 972 till his death in 992. He actually died while washing the feet of the poor, something he did every day during Lent.

www.catholic.org/saints

http://www.worcestercathedral.co.uk/

The Abbey of St Mary the Virgin Tewkesbury

It is recorded that the first Christianity was brought to Tewkesbury by Theoc, a missionary from Northumbria. A monastery was built around 715, but nothing of it remains.

The foundation at Tewkesbury became a Priory in the 10th century and was associated with a BenedictineAbbey at Cranbourne in Dorset.

William The Conqueror gave the Manor of Tewkesbury to a cousin, Robert Fitzhamon. He, with the Abbot of Cranbourne, Giraldus, founded the present abbey in 1092.

The building of the present Abbey began in 1102, with stone brought from France.

Fitzhamon died in 1107, and his son-in-law Robert Fitz Roy, son of HenryI continued to fund the work. Tewkesbury became one of the wealthiest Abbeys in England.

When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the people of Tewkesbury saved the Abbey from destruction.

They insisted it was their parish church, and so for the value of the bells and lead roof which would all have been melted down, they bought the Abbey for £453.

http://www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk/

Tewkesbury Abbey

I think of all the Abbeys I visited recently, Tewkesbury was the most impressive to look at.

All of these remaining Abbey Churches are a testament of the belief and love that those who built them had for God. They were built for the Glory of God, not the glory of man.

And of course they are all a part of the Catholic Heritage of Britain.

Recently, Archbishop Conti here in Glasgow was awarded an honorary degree from Glasgow University.

The honour was bestowed on the 16th of June, which is the University's Commemoration day, which marks the foundation of Glasgow University in 1451 by a Papal Bull of Pope Nicholas V.

Aberdeen University was founded by a papal bull in1495.

We have much to be proud of in our Catholic History. There is a need for the knowledge of the good that the Church accomplished over the years before the Reformation to be rediscovered and relearned by Catholic and Non Catholic folk.

Perhaps the upcoming visit of the Holy Father is an opportunity for the Church to guide us in rediscovering our hidden past.

The photos are of Tewkesbury Abbey.

http://www.tekesburyabbey.org.uk/

Stained Glass Windows

One of the beauties of old Priory Churches and Cathedrals is Stained glass windows.

In my recent sojourn around Wales, England and Scotland, it was very satisfying to spend time looking at such windows.

Some of the glass is of more recent times. I did see some that were very modern, that gave interesting light patterns when the sun shone throught them. Some were of more traditional themes, which I generally prefer.

But some of the windows were really old.

For example, in Great Malvern, some of the glass is medieval. In Cartmel Priory, I was informed that some of the glass had been brought back from the Crusades.
The older glass I saw had lost some of its definition, and details had faded. But that did not detract from its splendour.

And of course, at a time when reading was a skill held by the few, such windows and paintings were one way of telling great biblical stories to the many.

These photos were some from my recent expedition. They are from Cartmel Priory and are of a very old age indeed.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Today was one of those rare feast days not transferred to a Sunday but celebrated on the day.

It was a Holiday of Obligation. Holiday...from Holy Day, and obligation in the sense that cathoics must attend Mass on this day.

Of course these 2 saints are central to the Church. Peter, with his traditional Jewish way of thinking, and St Paul who realised that the Message - the Gospel - had to be spread beyond Rome, or else the new Church would seperate into tiny factions around Rome.

Both saints were Martyred. Peter was cricified upside down, and Paul, a Roman Citizen, was killed by the sword.

The remains of Peter are believed to have been found in the earth beneath the Vatican, and ancient graves have been discovered around Saint Pauls Outside The Walls.

Photos are from interior of Tewkesbury Abbey

The History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland.

It becomes clearer to me that the truth about Britain before the Reformation has been almost eradicated. I have commented on this before.

The impression is often given of Britain being an uncivilised, clergy ridden society.

This is far from the truth.

The great Universities were started by the Catholic Church.

The Monasteries were great houses of learning, of education, of commerce, of farming development, and of education.

People did not live in drab colourless towns and cities.

Life was not perfect though. There were no doubt corrupt lay people and clergy who were out to serve themselves. But by enlarge, the Catholic Church did much for the benefit of all people.

If you want an unbiased, non catholic account of what the Reformation meant for Britain, and especially for the poor and the ill, look no further than this wonderful book by William Cobbit.

It is titled, "The History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland."

The book is available on line. Google it!

Once you have read it, you will have a different understanding of the events surrounding and folllowing on from the Protestant Reformation.

Over my next postings, I will be highlighting some of the Abbey Churches that I visited last week in England, Wales and Scotland. I will give some details of their history and he work that they did in their respective areas.

Photos show Great Malvern, Worcester and Tewkesbury Abbey Churches.