Abbey Church of St Mary (Tintern Abbey) including monastic buildings

The buildings are described in the same order as in the Cadw guidebook, which should be referred to for a fuller account.

The Church is unroofed except for the south nave aisle and the porch, but it is otherwise remarkably complete, especially in comparison with other Cistercian abbeys; the only major sections missing being the north nave arcade and the vaults. It is constructed throughout of local red Devonian sandstone, both rubble and fine ashlar, which was quarried locally; while the roofs, which are C20, are of stone slates. The building was commenced in c1269 to the south of the existing Romanesque church, the first Mass at the High Altar was heard in 1288 and the church was completed in c1320 at about 72m in length. It has the standard cruciform plan with a 6-bay nave, a 4-bay choir, a 2-bay south transept and a 3-bay north one. The larger crossing piers could have supported a lantern of some kind. The style is Early English, transitional to a full blown Decorated, which is demonstrated in the west front and the surprisingly well preserved window tracery. Examples of all the window types survive and the only major loss is the great window of the south transept which was presumably similar to the smaller one which survives in the north transept. The building is of the highest quality of design and construction throughout.

The Cloister survives as an open courtyard with the exposed foundations of what was once a very elaborate arcade of late C13 date.

The East Range, containing the Chapter House, Parlour and Monks' Day Room with the Monks' Dormitory above and dates from the C12 and C13. The ground floor rooms survive in a reasonably explicable condition.

The North Range with the Warming House and the Refectory are mid C13. The surviving windows of the Refectory show it to have been a fine room.

The West Range, which was the Lay Brothers' Refectory and Dormitory, dates from the mid C13 and has a partial survival of the lower storey.

The Porch, which dates from the late C13 survives largely complete and roofed, leading to the also C13 Outer Parlour which is still fully recognisable.

The Infirmary Hall which is principally late C13 survives only as foundations and its complete appearance is conjectural.

The Abbot's Lodgings, which began in the C13 and was greatly enlarged in the C14, has enough of the decorative stonework surviving to show that it became a very fine medieval house.

The current open appearance of the interior of the church is misleading as it was divided by a number of solid stone screens in the medieval period and the elaborate Decorated pulpitum of c1320 was only finally removed in c1880. All the rubble stonework now revealed would have been plastered over, the floor was paved with tiles and there would have been elaborately vaulted ceilings to all the spaces.