Why You Should Visit Caldey Island

There have been monks on Caldey Island for as long as anyone can remember. History tells us that they have been residents on this tiny island off the coast of the United Kingdom near Tenby in South Wales for over 1500 years. 

The island was known as Ynys Pyr, the Island of Pyr. It was so named for the first abbot who headed the island monastery in the sixth century. During the Norman invasion in the 10th century, the island took on its present name. 

Human remains, flint tools, and long extinct animal bones have been found on the island dating back to 8000BC. Starting in 1113, the island ownership passed though many changes of ownership on its journey though history. 

In 1113, King Henry I gave the island to a nobleman of Norman distinction, Robert Fitzmartin, who presented the island as a gift to his mother. In 1136 the island was passed over to an order of Benedictine monks, who had already founded an abbey at St. Donymael near Cardigan. 

The monks built a new priory on the site of the sixth century abbot’s settlement. This priory remains largely intact today, a testament to its construction. During the new construction, the island stream was channeled and used to power a mill. A watch-tower was built to augment the defenses of the priory, as the seas around Caldey were ripe with pirates and invaders.
IN 1536 Henry VIII decreed that he had had enough of the monks and they were expelled from their island home. Henry then gave the island to John Bradshaw. The island saw many new owners of the next 260 years. It was sold to Walter Philpin in 1577, then to Reeve Williams from the Gower and then in 1653 to Robert Williams of Loughor. 

The Earl of Warwick decided to be ownership a go in 1786 for £3000. After 12 years he decided he was through as an island owner and sold the island. The next owner of Caldey would prove to be probably the most dynamic and fortuitous in the island’s history.