Subsiding Stones: Haverfordwest Priory

Haverfordwest Priory, founded c.1200, was built on a site created by cutting away at the steep bank and depositing the excavated material into and on top of marshy ground. This poor foundation led to the priory's gradual subsidence. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1541), it was acquired by Roger and Thomas Barlow. Much of the site was robbed of its stone after the dissolution, but what remains is the Priory church, along with a unique medieval garden. From 1983 to 1996, the site was excavated, and the outlines of the buildings still visible today. The gardens, listed at Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, are the only surviving example of a medieval monastic garden in the country and have since been renovated and planted with examples of plants used at the time.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons