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Caldy, St Marys Priory

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Caldey Priory; Ynys Pir; Ynys Pyr; Ynys Byr

In the community of Caldey Island.
In the historic county of Pembrokeshire.
Modern authority of Pembrokeshire.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS14099630
Latitude 51.63485° Longitude -4.68784°

Caldy, St Marys Priory has been described as a certain Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.
Description

St Mary's Priory, Caldy, is a Tironensian house and a daughter house of St Dogmael's. It was founded in 1113, probably on the site of an earlier religious establishement, and dissolved in 1536, after which the conventual buildings were incorporated into a secular residence. The buildings are ranged about a central court, or cloister, about 8.0-9.0m across. The church is on its southern side, and there is a gatehouse and guesthouse in the western range. The refectory is to the north and the dormitory to the east. The Prior's Tower is at the north-east angle. (Coflein)

This is a small, compact, building complex with small exterior windows. The priors tower is vaulted and thick walled. The building is described as being fortified against pirates, who were certainly endemic in this area, but the architecture may well also reinforce this small communities desire to be cut off from the greater world expressed by the island location.

Despite the impression frequently given of almost constant warfare in Wales throughout the C11-C15 of the two dozen monastic houses in Wales, some sizable and wealthy others small and isolated, only Ewenny and Caldy Priories are ever described as fortified. Caldy Island was clearly at threat from pirates. At Ewenny the fortification are "works of prestige".
Links to mapping and other online resources
Data >
Coflein   County HER        
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Sources of information, references and further reading

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me for educational purposes only.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.
The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown.
Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.
Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get.
*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of the described site.

This record last updated on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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