The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 

The middle years of the thirteenth century seem to have been a period of relative prosperity for the abbey. This may have been connected with a firmer English control of the area and the rebuilding of Cardigan Castle in stone in 1240. Much building and reconstruction were carried on at the abbey. The church was completed during this time, albeit to a modified layout, and the cloister was rebuilt.

In 1246 King Henry III gave a gift of 20 marks to the abbot and convent of St Dogmaels 'for the fabric of their church'. Towards the end of the century, in 1291, the value of the abbey was assessed as £58 11s.4d, showing it to be a medium-sized institution by Welsh standards. Poor Cardigan Priory was worth only about £16 at the time.

All was not well, however, for within a few years the abbey was running into financial difficulties. These may have been due to a programme of extensive rebuilding necessitated by damage caused during the troubled times of the Edwardian conquest of Wales. But St Dogmaels was not alone in its troubles, for in 1322 Cardigan Priory went into debt and had to be taken into royal custody.

It is possible that the abbey had difficulty in recruiting monks and, as with most other monasteries in Wales at this period, numbers were probably dwindling. Worse was to come with the Black Death. It struck St Dogmaels in 1349 and, as we know from the diocesan registers, reduced still further the number of monks. The monastery never really recovered from the effects of the plague, declining population, and a generally growing disillusionment with the call of the monastic life.

By the turn of the century St Dogmaels was spiritually in a poor state. In 1402 a visitation by the bishop of St Davids revealed that there were only four monks (including the abbot) at the house. Licentiousness, it seems, was rife. Following an admonition by the bishop there was a gradual improvement. A century later, in 1504, there was a further visitation. This time the abbey was said to be in good order, the ruined chancel had been restored and there were six regular monks in addition to the abbot. The reference to the restoration of the chancel may also refer to the elaborate rebuilding of the north transept, which must have taken place at about this time. (CADW 1992)