Gothic windows
Huge and pointed.
Alexandra226 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Clint Budd — CC BY 2.0 · Ethan Doyle White — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ethan Doyle White — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ethan Doyle White — CC BY-SA 4.0
Tintern Abbey is a ruined medieval abbey beside the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which here forms the border between Wales and England, about 28 km north of Bristol in a straight line. Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, founded it on 9 May 1131 as the first Cistercian house in Wales and the second in Britain. It fell into ruin after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, and its remains have been celebrated in poetry and painting since the 18th century. Cadw has managed the site since 1984, and about 70,000 people visit each year. Towering grey stone walls stand open to the sky, pierced by huge pointed Gothic windows and carved arches framing the sky and the wooded hills around. Remains of cloisters and halls spread across green lawns around the roofless church, with the River Wye flowing through the valley nearby. Visitors wander among the ruins and open cloisters, take in the great stone windows, and some walk the surrounding Wye Valley trails for a view of the abbey from above. It is peaceful and lovely in the morning and in autumn colour.
Huge and pointed.
On the lawns.
In the valley.
Tintern, Monmouthshire, Wales
Cadw, since 1984.
Mornings and autumn.