Margam Abbey: A New Era Celebrating 875 years of Generosity

Margam Abbey is celebrating its 875th year by putting its breath-taking story in the spotlight with 12 months of events and open invitations to spirituality, fun and heritage.

Margam Abbey founded in 1147 by the abbot William of Clairvaux and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Early Christian crosses that have been found around the grounds suggest Margam was the home of an early Celtic monastic community. The third abbot was an early Christian theologian who is said to have named sections of St. Bernard’s ‘Sermons on the Song of Songs’.

King Henry VII dissolved and sold the abbey in 1536 but significant entries of the monastery library survived. It is believed at this time, only 12 monks were living in the monastery, but the abbey eventually passed down the descendants of the owner in the female line to the Talbot family (the namesake of the town Port-Talbot).

The National Churches Trust write of the abbey “Margam was ‘the most generous of all Cistercian foundations in Wales’, offering hospitality to travellers and people in need by ensuring the abbey had food whenever there was famine locally. And there was certainly a belief that God rewarded the monks for their generosity. One-time, local people and the monks were close to starvation when suddenly the crop in a field belonging to the abbey miraculously ripened a month early, sustaining everyone until Autumn when the main crops ripened.”

Today only St Mary’s nave still stands with the other two thirds of the major Cistercian abbey in ruins, but with the backdrop crook of the hills the space is still magnificent.

The aim is to honour the space by leaning into the same strengths it’s had over the last 875 years: heritage, arts, tourism, and wellbeing.

Reverends Mark and Ruth GreenawayRobbins began their ministry at the abbey in July 2022.

With such a rich past and feel to the abbey, the clergy have been building their vision around Anglo-Catholic traditions and sacraments that also draw on their own experience of ministry during their time in Canada.

Ruth said, “We don’t have an obvious gathered community because the church is quite isolated. It’s a strange place to be - wonderful but strange. As this isn’t an easy space to grow a church, we having been looking at the gifts and the strengths of this place. And one of them is that it has always been a great Catholic stronghold. It’s also that it has heritage. It’s not the oldest in the diocese, but it’s up there. We want to live into that, and we talk a lot about sacramental pioneering.”

‘Sacramental pioneering’, Ruth explains, is having a central focus on using the visible symbols of God for mission such as being very open and free with laying of hands, the burning of incense, oils, and anointing.

“I think it’s really powerful for people to come in. Entering the mystery of the space, especially with its wonderful smell. We’re not ashamed of declaring our faith and we must be comfortable with having the door open, including during services, and carrying on and doing our thing and just allowing people to be present.

In trying to meet the needs of people right in that moment, Ruth and Mark have what they call ‘chaplaincy time’ where they are simply in the Abbey available for anyone visiting the church. They say they are astonished by how many people just wander in whether they be dog walkers or history buffs.

“Sacramental pioneering is really all about connection. This is an open space to come and to receive Christ in that way. If I don’t come home on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon when we’ve been doing chaplaincy time here and I’m not broken but also really satisfied, I don’t feel I’ve done a good enough job. Sometimes it’s really pastorally sensitive and that’s beautiful that people feel able to talk. It is such a privilege. That’s what’s so special about being here. It’s like God’s job fulfilment.”

“Discipleship courses are next on the agenda looking at how do we feed those are walking through the door.”

Throughout the anniversary year of November 2022 – November 2023, Margam Abbey will host different events to mark its past lives. For example, the abbey when it was founded was known for its hospitality so social events will be a big part of its 2023 calendar.

There is the sense that this is a destination to come and celebrate the heritage of this amazing area and the arts.

Known for its connection to entertainment and music, visitors can also look forward to historical re-enactments, concerts by different organisations throughout the year and a harp workshop on St David’s Day. There will be competitions around photography, art for professionals and an invitation for schools to visit and share their own pictures. Margam Abbey will also be a destination of the Churches Unlocked Festival 2023 (see pages 8-9).

Ruth said, “In leaning into all those different things, it’s also highlighting what this place is becoming. It’s really special it’s the 875th anniversary year that we’ve arrived to begin and to just live into its new phase of life.”

Over the centuries, Margam Abbey has, reinvented itself in different ways, but those who know the abbey well say it always holds on to its core of renewal, faith, defence, and generosity.

“This is more about feeling and that’s always a tricky one. But people will walk in here and say ‘There is something about this place. There’s something about this valley.’ We want to capture that,” said Ruth.

“People may want to come to light candles or just be in the space. So now we are looking at ‘What is it that we’re not offering that they want to kind of make this their home?’ I think that’s the thing we want to explore to share that special gift and make it more accessible.”

The Greenaway-Robbins’ are also reintroducing practices such as singing the proclamation of Easter, which is a mediaeval tradition. Announcing significant dates such as Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, and Ascension Sunday as ‘proclamations’ were a necessity for the community when there were no calendars. The church would be relied on to know when to sow seeds and harvest crops. In the gulley of the beautiful valley, with the aroma and mystery of the stone and hills around you, you are drawn in by the wonder of a higher power.

Margam Abbey will now also occasionally hold Benedictions - a service in which the congregation is able to sit in the presence of a consecrated Communion Host. Ruth said:

It’s prayerful adoration so we adore Jesus and that’s all we do. We just sit there and think ‘You are so amazing, so we are going to sing songs to you, we’re going to pray prayers to you, and thank you for your amazingness. We’re going to be blessed by you.’ So, let’s reintroduce that and I think we’re going to do it quite traditionally the first time and then explore the untraditional.