St Dogmael’s Abbey was founded by the Norman lord Robert Fitz-Martin and his wife, Maud Peverel, in 1120. It is reputedly on the site of a Celtic monastery founded by Dogmael, a now obscure 6th-century saint said to have been the son of Ithel ap Ceredig ap Cunedda Wledig and also the cousin of St David. St Dogmael’s was an abbey of the Tironensian order, the only one established in Wales or England, although it did have two daughter priories in Wales at Caldey and Pill, both in Pembrokeshire. A few Tironensian abbeys were also established in Scotland. The abbey was known for its fine library; it was dissolved in 1536.
The ruins are in an attractive residential area. The abbey church is clear, with a crypt in which, apparently, there was a shrine to St Dogmael. Little decoration remains, but there is a trace of fan vaulting in the north transept. The location of features such as the cloister can be made out. There is also a small visitor centre.