Tintern Abbey

Some may recall the name Tintern from the poem of Wordsworth, "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798". Even with the poem to move us, the Abbey is an amazing place.

We enter through the monks quarters and kitchens.

The roof here is, no doubt, a place constructed for simple practical reasons and is intended only to be useful, it is complicated, and geometrically interesting. So many stones to cut to the right shape and size to fit in such an intricate pattern to insure that it stays overhead.

Although it is all gone now, there was clearly cast expanses of stained glass here. Wikipedia tells us

Tintern Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn pronunciation (help·info)) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and only the second in Britain (after Waverley Abbey).

The abbey fell into ruin after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Its remains have been celebrated in poetry and painting from the 18th century onwards.

The abbey itself is a huge space showing places for many stained glass windows and exterior connecting walls. Clearly, the monks wanted to take full advantage of building as few additional walls as possible.

Insides the church is a perfectly manicured lawn to provide a little color to the monochrome building stones. Yet, it takes very little imagination to envision this place with glowing glass in the many windows, the colored cloth draped on the walls to limit the effect of the cold stone on the monks inside as they scurried about or sat on the benches provided, and the sounds. This place would have been filled with the constant comings and goings of the many monks with their robes swishing and feet tapping. During services, the Gregorian chant would fill this echoing space with a calming and spiritual sound that kept the monks inspired and busy practicing.