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King Henry VIII may have done Llangollen a great favour by his disillusion of Valle Crucis Abbey in 1536.

This once stunning Cistercian abbey was built in the 13th century, under the patronage of Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor I who also built Dinas Bran Castle. It was extended 100 years later to become one of the most impressive buildings in North Wales.


Many original features remain, including the glorious west front complete with an elaborate, richly carved doorway, beautiful rose window and 14th century inscription 'Abbot Adams carried out this work; may he rest in peace. Amen'.


Other well preserved features include the east end of the Abbey (which overlooks the monks' original fishpond) and the lovely Chapter House with its striking rib-vaulted roof.

Following the disillusion it became a farm up until the latter years of the 19th century.

But if Abbot Adams were alive today, the main topic of conversation would undoubtedly be what was here before the abbey was built and could this be the site of the true Glastonbury or Glaestingaburh?

Obviously the good abbot is no longer with us and we will never know the true answer to this one but there are some fascinating clues which raise an lot of questions.

A Reverend Owen undertook some archaeological explorations of the Abbey in 1896 and made some startling discoveries. Apart from Medieval artefacts he also found Saxon, Roman and even the wooden foundations to a pre-Roman building in one dig alone!

In fact he even uncovered a copy of the Koran concealed within a wall, which must have been brought back to Llangollen by one of the Knights Templars, whose grave slabs he also discovered and are now on display.

All the artefacts were placed in a museum on the site, which unfortunately closed in the 1950s, with the displays mysteriously disappearing.

More modern ground radar studies have highlighted the outline of a pre Abbey building, as well as discovering a crypt which experts believed didn't exist.

This is just scratching the surface, however and there are no doubt many more discoveries to be made at this most evocative of sites.