Tintern Abbey's Great Gothic Church

Tintern’s greatest glory, the superb Gothic Church, has stood here for over 700 years welcoming worshippers, wealthy patrons and visitors to this tranquil abbey.

Unfortunately, the building was never meant to survive without its roof or windows and the weather has eroded the soft medieval stonework over the centuries.

The church has been closed to the public while essential conservation works are planned and carried out to prevent the loss of masonry and make it safe for visitors. To do this we will need to build a very high and heavy scaffold to reach and repair the weathered and crumbling sandstone on the church’s upper walls.

Before conservation work can begin, we are working with Black Mountains Archaeology to investigate whether there are any ancient fragile features buried in the ground that may be damaged by this scaffold.

Ross Cook from ArchaeoDomus explains how we're also conducting a Level 4 Historic Buildings Record to better understand the abbey church.

Our excavations will help us design the scaffolding, both to protect any buried archaeology and prevent the scaffold from collapsing into soft earth.

This will be the first year of a very ambitious investigation into the buried history of Tintern Abbey and will expand from this east end of the church to most of the interior and surrounding ground over the next few years.

See the team at work and the areas of excavation within the abbey, plus some finds recovered from the topsoil to date:

Visiting Tintern Abbey?

Once the scaffolding is in place, we will offer a 10% discount off the price of admission.

The discount will be offered to all paying visitors as we work around the abbey church, restricting access for visitor safety. Your admission helps keep these wonderful architectural treasures safe for us and future generations to appreciate and enjoy. 

Thank you.

Visit Tintern Abbey