Strata Florida

Yesterday I went on a bus trip to Strata Florida - a ruined monastery in mid Wales - near Pontrhydyfendigaid. It was overcast with showers - not an auspicious day for a trip, but the weather was kind to us with only a very light shower while we explored the ruins and even some sunshine by the end of the day.
Having picked up more passengers in Kilgetty - including our most important one, a monk from Caldey Island monastery (the same order as Strata Florida was) who was to be our guide for the day- we drove into mid Wales. This took a couple of hours along narrow country lanes, but the bus driver was excellent, and we had a relatively smooth ride through countryside. The place names and signs became progressively more Welsh.

West Doorway of Abbey church

Although it was overcast, the archway of the entrance to the abbey still cast its spell. It is beautiful, and gives you an idea of how the building must have looked when complete. It must have been amazing to see it growing out of the rural landscape at a time when most buildings were wooden and single story.
Brother Gildas gave us a day in the life of a monk, moving from choir to chapter to cloisters. Unfortunately the dormitories have been built over by a seventeenth century farmhouse, but you get a good idea of the layout of the site.

An interesting feature is a stone-lined basin with steps either end, of unknown origins. Possibilities include a place for the ritual washing of the feet of the monks by the abbot of Thursday of Holy Week, or a pre-christian holy site included in the construction - it is not aligned with the rest of the church.

In the south transept, there are 3 chapels, as on the north but these are better preserved and have their original tiled floors - again beautiful detailed work.

Outside the Cadw-enclosed area is a lovely small parish church with an interesting stone positioned behind it - it looks like a gravestone but it has five small holes in it. Again, it is not clear what the origin is. It could be part of a prayer series on the five wounds of Christ, (2 hands, 2 feet and the side) but it does not follow the usual pattern...
After a lunchbreak spent companiably sharing a bottle of Maipo and investigating the layout of the monastery laid out in slate in the entrance courtyard, we piled back on the bus and headed for Tregaron. We called at the excellent Kite museum in an old schoolhouse and had some delicious tea and welshcakes. The museum displays a lovely tapestry made by local volunteers of Tregaron's history - indeed some of those volunteers were manning the museum for us.
After a pleasant hour exploring Tregaron, we headed back along the winding country roads for home.
An excellent day - thank you Tenby Civic Society!