Saturday February 7th Coffee Morning and Talk

Despite the inclement weather, our Coffee Morning and Talk of February 7th was very well attended. John Brandwick was our speaker this month whose talk was ‘Whitland Abbey: 'The Foundation, Development and Decline of Whitland Abbey’. Many do not realise the importance of Whitland in the history of Wales. Whitland – Hendy-Gwyn in Welsh – is famous as the site where King Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good) called a great assembly of lawyers and leaders from all over his kingdom to draw up a unified legal code for Wales. Whitland Abbey, the subject of John’s talk, is a short distance away from the town and it, too, occupies an important place in Welsh history. Founded in 1151, the Abbey grew in importance to become the motherhouse of the Cistercian order of monks in Wales. Several daughter houses were established including Strata Florida, Strata Marcella and Cwmhir. It thrived during medieval Wales under the patronage of the Welsh princes, but gradually declined in later years until its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539. John Brandrick is a retired Engineering Draughtsman, who puts his professional expertise to good use into illustrating and researching Whitland Abbey. He gave us a highly detailed and illustrated presentation, describing how the abbey was built how it fared with the upheavals of the period from its foundation in the 12th Century to its dissolution in the 16th Century. Little remains of this once great Abbey although the foundations have been excavated and there is more to come and, with it, hopes of discovering more of its underground structure. John is a member of the Friends of Whitland Abbey, a voluntary group that takes care of the Abbey site, which is open to the public at all times.