Neath Abbey

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Cadw names a car park for about four cars 30 m from the entrance, directly opposite it on Monastery Road, with no dedicated disabled spaces; no charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown. Reviewers disagree on how much room there is, some finding plenty and others only the roadside; take care crossing the road.

Driving pin: Cadw's marker at the site entrance on Monastery Road. By road: 1 mile west of Neath, off the A465. National Cycle Network route 47 passes 1.6 km away.

About

Neath Abbey, Abaty Nedd, ranks with Tintern and Llanthony among the most important monastic remains in south Wales. The Norman knight Sir Richard de Granville founded it in 1130 for Savigniac monks, who joined the Cistercian order in 1147, and by the late 13th century it was one of the wealthiest abbeys in Wales, with some 50 monks and a larger body of lay brothers working estates across three counties. Suppressed in 1539, it gained a large Tudor mansion built into the cloister, then in the Industrial Revolution became a copper smelting works with an ironworks next door, until the site was cleared and placed in state care in 1944. Virtually the entire layout of church, cloister and buildings can still be traced on the flat, grassed site beside the Tennant Canal. Reviewers are surprised by how huge and intact it is, single out the monks' staircase with its built-in stone handrail. Dogs on short leads are welcome throughout the grounds.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Today, Saturday 24 October

Neath Abbey10:00 – 16:00last admission 15:30

Free entry

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open 10am to 4pm all year, last admission 30 minutes before closing; closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather, and parts of the site may flood in extremely heavy weather.

Terrain level 1, accessible: most of the site is relatively flat with a small dip towards the rear and can be reached on gravel paths. Low walls may trip, and the ruined steps lead to no upper areas, so check them before letting children explore. A small bridge leads out to the canal and riverbank for a longer walk. No toilets, shop or refreshments. Drones are not permitted.

Dogs: Dogs on short leads are welcome on the ground level of the abbey, which is the whole site. The flat grassed site with its gravel paths is all at ground level and open to dogs on a short lead; no ticket is needed.

Photo: The tall arched walls of Neath Abbey's ruined church with fallen masonry on the lawn in front and further ruins beyond. Gareth James, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Remains_of_the_church_at_Neath_Abbey_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5723014.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.