Tintern Abbey – named after the Abbey in Wales
We arrived at Tintern Abbey, a 13c Cistercian Abbey (named after its Welsh counterpart) later rebuilt as a residence and lived in until 1959, on the first Wednesday of the month when entry is free. Like every landmark on the Hook the partly restored Abbey has its charms and is well worth a visit, if only to imagine over a pretty good cup of coffee at the café how such stark remains would have made a draughty 20th Century home after its heyday in the 16th Century when the family fortunes of the Colcloughs from Stafford floundered. Amongst its interesting artworks and hints of its Tudor heyday is a wax work model of the head of a Colclough parted from its torso and slung into the Clansey river.