Strata Florida Project

The Strata Florida Research Project

Other related projects

Three other complementary projects are currently being undertaken:

Aerial photograph of Troed y Rhiw (Toby Drive. Copyright: RCAHMW) Troed y Rhiw

Professor Andrew Fleming and Louise Barker have surveyed and analysed a large complex of earthworks about a mile to the east of the Abbey ruins up the Teifi valley. Their work has shown an important post-medieval sequence of occupation and use which has its antecedents in the Middle Ages.

Photo: Aerial photograph of Troed y Rhiw (Toby Drive. Copyright: RCAHMW).

The Monk’s Trod The Monks’ Trod

Professor Andrew Fleming has been studying the course of the Monk’s Trod between Strata Florida and Abbey Cwmhir for some years. This work supports an important hypothesis that this is a deliberately engineered road through some difficult terrain and should perhaps be related not just to the foundation of the Abbeys, but also to more secular and strategic concerns of Welsh Princes, notably the Lord Rhys of Deheubarth towards the end of the twelfth century.

Photo: The Monk’s Trod

5.3 Aerial photograph of Llanllyr, Talsarn, Ceredigion, site of a former Cistercian nunnery (Toby Driver. Copyright: RCAHMW) Aerial Photography

Dr Toby Driver of the RCAHMW has been flying over and photographing the site of Strata Florida and its related landscapes for a number of years, as part of its contribution to the research partnership. The images have revealed a number of new sites, but even more importantly have added new understanding to sites already known and have demonstrated also the holistic connections which make up this complex landscape. The RCAHMW, under the direction of Toby has undertaken the preliminary transcription of features in a 2 km² to the north of the Abbey using a very clear vertical air photograph of 1957. This has yet to be ground-truthed.

Photo: Aerial photograph of Llanllyr, Talsarn, Ceredigion, site of a former Cistercian nunnery (Toby Driver. Copyright: RCAHMW).