Llanthony Priory

In the narrow Vale of Ewyas, a fold in the Black Mountains, stands the ruins of Llanthony Priory. Its fairly remote location suggests to the casual observer that this is one of the many Cistercian foundations that can be seen across the British Isles. However, Llanthony was founded by two Augustinians around 1120 and was not completed until over a century later. It exhibits the style of architecture current when the Romanesque Norman was superseded by Gothic Early English. The delay in its construction was largely due to the depredations of the native Welsh following the demise of England's Henry I. During this period the monks fled to safer pastures across the River Severn where they built a cell, Llanthony Secunda, the remains of which can still be seen in Gloucester.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Raglan Castle

Raglan Castle is one of the last medieval castles to have been built in England and Wales. Most of what can be seen dates from the mid to late 1400s and mid 1500s, including the state apartments, garderobe tower, gatehouse and closet tower seen in the photograph. The castle was built on the site of a smaller castle/fortified house. The large building whose remains we see today was the work of William Herbert (d.1469). Later owners in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries turned it into a Renaissance palace with extensive gardens, lakes, fountains and other landscaping features. The seventeenth century owners' loyalty to Charles 1 proved the building's undoing because after its capture the Parliamentary forces under Thomas Fairfax "slighted it" i.e. destroyed enough of it to render it unusable. The photograph I took in May proved less satisfactory than this image from July 2018.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Bigsweir bridge

The bridge over the River Wye forms the connection at that point between England and Wales. It was built in 1826-9 to a design by Charles Hollis of London and constructed of cast iron and sandstone, the casting having been done at Merthyr Tydfil. The main span is 55 yards (50m). For today's traffic it is a single track bridge, the crossings being controlled by lights. It was originally a toll bridge and the toll house can just be seen on the Welsh side (left in the photograph).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

More shadows, Tintern Abbey

Our visit to Tintern Abbey was accompanied by weather not especially conducive to photographing the splendours of Gothic architecture. More clouds, less sun and a softer light would have suited me better. However, the harsh light and deep shadows did emphasise the architectural skeleton underpinning the building and the long shadows only added to this effect.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Tintern Abbey shadows

Tintern Abbey was the second  foundation by the Cistercians in Britain and the first in Wales. Like all the abbeys of this order it was built in what would have been a remote location - in this case, the valley of the River Wye. The structure was founded in 1131. Its present, ruinous state came about through Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in 1536. The early proponents of the Romantic Movement were moved by its battered skeletal form alongside the river, overlooked on both sides by heavily wooded slopes.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10