Cyfres Ystrad Marchell Charters (Wynnstay 1945 deposit) GT. - Charters of the Abbey of Ystrad Marchell,

The Cistercian Abbey of Ystrad Marchell was founded c. 1170 by Owain ap Gruffudd of Cyfeiliog as a daughter house to the Abbey of Whitland. His son, Gwenwynwyn (d. 1216), was a major benefactor of Ystrad Marchell, granting the abbey large tracts of land in the commote of Cyfeiliog, the hundred of Arwystli and the manor of Caereinion Uwch Coed. During the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries the abbey had also acquired lands from Owen Cyfeiliog’s kinsmen, the lords of Penllyn and Edeirion, namely Maredudd ap Howell, Elis ap Madog, Owain Brogyntyn and Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor. The abbey was granted royal charters by King John in 1200, confirming previous grants and giving the monks exemption from toll, and by Henry III in 1232, also granting exemption from toll. Various subsequent benefactors included Llywelyn Fawr [1209] and his illegitimate son, Gruffudd, 1226. In 1328, in response to complaints by John de Charleton, Lord of Powys, Edward III instigated an official investigation into reports of dissolute behaviour at the abbey, resulting in the replacement of the Welsh monks with English ones and severance of the link between Ystrad Marchell and its original mother house of Whitland. The abbey was dissolved in 1536 in accordance with the general policy of Henry VIII. After the dissolution the lands in Cyfeiliog, Arwystli and Caereinion were acquired by the Purcell family of Nantcriba, Worthen, and the Vaughan family of Llwydiarth, with whom they intermarried. Those properties ultimately passed into the possession of the Wynnstay estate upon the marriage of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn to Ann, daughter of Edward Vaughan of Llwydiarth in 1715. The lands in Penllyn and Edeirinion were granted by the Crown to Sir Rowland Hayward, lord Mayor of London in 1570. For a fuller account of the historical background see Thomas, Graham, C.G. (ed.), The Charters of the Abbey of Ystrad Marchell (Aberystwyth : National Library of Wales, 1997, pp. 9-34.