Founded by Walter de Clare, lord of Chepstow, and was home to a community of Cistercian monks. The community relied on the land to supply it with a regular income. The income generated enable them to increase the size of the abbey throughout its history. Tintern, like other monastic institutions, was shut down by Henry VIII at the dissolution in 1535. seehttp://www.castlewales.com/tintern.html for more information.