The Normans put the borough back on the map, but it was the Welsh who Brought food To the town’s tables . Helen Morgan of Abergavenny Local History Society reports
It was shortly after 1066 that Hamelin de Ballon built the castle and priory around which Bergavenny grew up. And it was the town which gave its name to the Marcher lords including de Braose, Hastings, Herbert, Grey and Nevill. Their rule was not welcome by the Welsh, and the Crug Dial (Revenge Stone) on the ridge between the Grwyne Fawr and Llanthony valleys commemorates one memorable act of hostility in 1136. On this occasion Richard de Clare, a Norman knight, was returning home from Abergavenny when he was ambushed in Coed Dial. He and his men were killed by a band led by Iorwerth ap Owain of Caerleon, grandson of the last Welsh king of Gwent. Then, in 1177, William de Braose invited the local Welsh chieftains and their supporters to a Christmas feast at the castle. Not one of his guests survived to see the New Year. Seven years later, relatives of the murdered Welsh nobles stormed the castle, but William was not there.
Mill Street
Gradually, the importance of trading came to the fore. In Abergavenny, the market, the earliest record of which is dated 1257, almost certainly accounts for the town’s wealth. The market place itself near the parish church of St John would have dominated the medieval town and, although the site has moved, Abergavenny is the only town to have held its market on the same day since the 13th century. By the early 14th century, farming techniques had improved with dairy, sheep, fishing as well as crops bringing food to market and prosperity to Gwent as a whole. Then came the Black Death. The degree of devastation in the nearby villages is reflected in the rent revenues. In Llanover, for example, they fell from £12 to £4 in 1348-49.
By the Tudor period, Abergaveny had recovered. Jasper Tudor, uncle of King Henry VII was granted the lordship of Abergavenny. Then King Henry VIII agreed to let the people of Abergavenny use the Priory Church and turn St John’s parish church (which was too small for the burgeoning congregation) into a grammar school using Priory tithes to support it.
Frank Olding’s talk on Medieval Abergavenny on May 17 follows the AGM in the Borough Theatre starting at 7.30pm. Please visit the membership desk to join or renew your membership from 7pm.
