I have been searching for a monastery near to where the child Kendra, from the children’s book, a prequel to First Wolf, lives in Powys, Wales. Valle Crucis Abbey (Valley of the Cross) is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio, Wales, but at the time of the story the counties of Wales were named differently. More formally the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis it is known in Welsh both as Abaty Glyn Egwestl and Abaty Glyn y Groes. The abbey was built by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor, Prince of Powys Fadog. Valle Crucis was dissolved in 1537 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and subsequently fell into serious disrepair. The building is now a ruin, though large parts of the original structure still survive.
Kendra and her kinfolk lived in a settlement overlooking the valley, and in my story on Christmas Eve, 700 A.D. an Anglo-Saxon raiding party from Northumbria found itself in that valley. In those times, there was no set border between what is now England and Wales. The main distinction between the areas was the language.It wasn’t until the 800’s that Offa’s Dyke was built.