Thematic approaches could involve:
• an exploration of the history of heritage at Tintern Abbey that focuses on the original medieval ruins and Cistercian history
• a philosophical examination of how antiquarians viewed the past or how we view the past in the twenty-first century
• an exploration of the theme of ‘time, people and place’. (Cadw/Arts Coucil Wales 2015)
As you will have seen, if you read through the posts above, Tintern Abbey was occupied by the Cistercian monks for four hundred years. In taking the Abbey archeology back to this period all the subsequent history has been removed and little reference is made to the continuous habitation of the site over the time since its dissolution in 1536. In the 1970s the last dwelling within the site was purchased, demolished and erased.
My interest in the site was first piqued when I read Gilpin's book about his trip down the River Wye (see subsequent posts) where he describes people living in the ruins and acting as unofficial tour guides. I talked with the Anne Rainsbury, curator of Chepstow Museum, who very kindly gave me a reading list and suggested other people I might like to contact. From talking to Dr. Madeleine Gray and Dr. David R.Howell (here they are looking at one of the gravestones within the abbey church)
I learnt that of the contiuous habitation of Tintern Abbey.
It seems likely that the Picturesque visitors (including Gilpin) who came in the eighteenth century exaggerated the poverty of the people living in the abbey since this increased the picturesque frisson of meeting them. The visitors assessment of the poverty of the inhabitants of Tintern might also reflect the class outlook of the visitors. Whilst this is the beginning of modern tourism this was not mass tourism but the leisure activity of the leisured classes. This does not mean that there were no beggars. It is possible that people who had maybe migrated there for work were unable to claim relief from the parish as Tintern would not have been the parish they were born in and so amongst the cottagers there may have been some who were destitute through age or industrial injury.
The first person to live there was the mother of Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester until she moved to properties in the south of England. Once she left the buildings were rented out to people who lived and worked in the area, in the charcoal burning, lime kilns, iron works and brass foundry (established 1538 within the walls of the abbey). Stone was quarried from the site to build these factories and further cottages.
It's perhaps clear that I was less interested in the Cistercian History. This needs little explication since it is so obvious on the site, although perhaps the political implications are less obvious. The Cistercian monks lived in a world where they were separated by class, language and geneology from those surrounding them. All the work was done by the lay-brothers who were local gentry and peasants. They wouldn't have eaten together or talked or had commerce. Their purpose, beyond their religious vocation was to extend the power of the Norman overlord at Chepstow (William fitzOsbern and later William Marshal and Richard de Clare).
• an exploration of the history of heritage at Tintern Abbey that focuses on the original medieval ruins and Cistercian history
• a philosophical examination of how antiquarians viewed the past or how we view the past in the twenty-first century
• an exploration of the theme of ‘time, people and place’. (Cadw/Arts Coucil Wales 2015)
As you will have seen, if you read through the posts above, Tintern Abbey was occupied by the Cistercian monks for four hundred years. In taking the Abbey archeology back to this period all the subsequent history has been removed and little reference is made to the continuous habitation of the site over the time since its dissolution in 1536. In the 1970s the last dwelling within the site was purchased, demolished and erased.
My interest in the site was first piqued when I read Gilpin's book about his trip down the River Wye (see subsequent posts) where he describes people living in the ruins and acting as unofficial tour guides. I talked with the Anne Rainsbury, curator of Chepstow Museum, who very kindly gave me a reading list and suggested other people I might like to contact. From talking to Dr. Madeleine Gray and Dr. David R.Howell (here they are looking at one of the gravestones within the abbey church)
It seems likely that the Picturesque visitors (including Gilpin) who came in the eighteenth century exaggerated the poverty of the people living in the abbey since this increased the picturesque frisson of meeting them. The visitors assessment of the poverty of the inhabitants of Tintern might also reflect the class outlook of the visitors. Whilst this is the beginning of modern tourism this was not mass tourism but the leisure activity of the leisured classes. This does not mean that there were no beggars. It is possible that people who had maybe migrated there for work were unable to claim relief from the parish as Tintern would not have been the parish they were born in and so amongst the cottagers there may have been some who were destitute through age or industrial injury.
The first person to live there was the mother of Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester until she moved to properties in the south of England. Once she left the buildings were rented out to people who lived and worked in the area, in the charcoal burning, lime kilns, iron works and brass foundry (established 1538 within the walls of the abbey). Stone was quarried from the site to build these factories and further cottages.
It's perhaps clear that I was less interested in the Cistercian History. This needs little explication since it is so obvious on the site, although perhaps the political implications are less obvious. The Cistercian monks lived in a world where they were separated by class, language and geneology from those surrounding them. All the work was done by the lay-brothers who were local gentry and peasants. They wouldn't have eaten together or talked or had commerce. Their purpose, beyond their religious vocation was to extend the power of the Norman overlord at Chepstow (William fitzOsbern and later William Marshal and Richard de Clare).
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