The compilation of the King’s survey, The Valor Ecclesiasticus in 1535, would have left the Abbey in no doubt of its fate. In line with all the other Abbey’s valued at under £200, roughly £80,000 in today’s money, it was scheduled for closure in 1536. However, there was some hope that upon appeal to King Henry viii, along with a substantial sum of money, a reprieve was possible. Closure duly arrived in 1536, then on the 25th April 1537 “By virtue of the king’s restitution’, Whitland Abbey was formally re-founded. All praise the King, the Abbey was saved. The Abbey had been saved by the grace of King Henry viii, along with the not inconsiderable sum of £400 (160,000).

How had the Abbey managed to raise more than double its 1535 valuation. It was not just the payment to Henry, annuities were also paid to officials and potential future patrons. Whitland granted John Prescott £4 p.a for various causes and situations. In addition, another annual grant was made to John Dorman for a certain pecuniary service. The Abbey set about securing its future by demising its lands. Renegotiating its existing leases, with increased rents and taxes. They were ably assisted by the advice of David Nash, appointed its Receiver-General. All except one of Whitland’s demises date between 10^th May 1537 and the 10th February 1539. The last lease was signed just two days before the Abbey’s final closure. The leases were one last huge effort to prolong its existence. They included a substantial entry fee of £40 for its Ystlwyf Grange and three years rent of £15 for another holding paid by Richard Devereux, son of The Abbey’s Steward, Lord Ferrers.

The desperate spate of late leases, would prove very problematic for the Crown after Whitland’s closure. The Earl of Essex complained in 1576, that he could not make a profit from the lands he had bought that had belonged to Whitland, because Abbot Vayn ap. Thomas had leased them out for 99 years at the time of closure, for some reason using the seal of Carmarthen Friary. Further income was secured by charging the wealthy for prayers in life and death.

Despite these incomes, the sparing of Whitland two years earlier and its promised long term future was one last fraudulent act by Henry viii. His promise was false, only given to extract yet more money from the stricken Abbey. Unable to continue under its financial burdens it surrendered for the final time on the 12th February. Whitland Abbey was gone, but the spiritual needs of the locals continued to be met for some time afterwards at Lan Taf, its former grange chapel.

As one of Wales earliest Cistercian Abbeys, Whitland’s church was built in the simple Bernardine Plan without a tower in 1151. Despite minor alterations in the following centuries, Whitland retained its architectural restraint. Although some of Whitland’s daughter houses, through wealthy Welsh patronage moved away from the usual style, Whitland resisted architectural upgrade. The window glass would have been plain and uncoloured, relieved by pattern forming lead work. Whitland’s main concession to flamboyance came in the mid 13th century, in the form of sections of beautifully embossed Agnus Dei tiles. The Abbey’s stonework would have been amongst the best available of the time.

Whitland Abbey may have ceased, but its buildings offered major prizes for anyone who could get their hands on them. The commission appointed to investigate the looting of materials were obstructed at first, but reported of the removal of most of the iron and lead, glass and timber. The culprits were none other than former commissioner Sir John Vaughan, who had leased the site, together with Sir John Perrot and Richard Vaughan, elder and younger. Perrot took much of the freestone to Laugharne for his house building, some of which ended up in Laugharne Castle. Richard Vaughan exchanged cart-loads of stone in exchange for live-stock. Only one great chamber and two small rooms escaped the robbery, because they couldn’t break into them. This and further stone thefts for building use down the centuries is the reason that so little of Whitland Abbey remains today. What little is left, stands as testimony to the destruction of the Mother Abbey of the Welsh Cistercians. The 12th of February 2021 marks the 482nd year of its closure.

Dave Walsh-Gibbon

With gratitude to the Rev. Dr. David H Williams

Reference Note: This blog honours the lifelong research of the great David H. Williams. All the facts contained in the article are pulled together from a variety of sources by the Rev. Dr. Williams, condensed down into this article by the blogger. I have had the pleasure of meeting DHW and learned so much about Whitland Abbey from him.