The Manuscript
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has survived

for some 800 years.

It is now in

The British Library.

 

The other authenticated item is a manuscript copy of the Homilies of St Gregory, dating back to the late 12th or early 13th century. This manuscript has had a very chequered history which is outlined in the notes accompanying the manuscript in the British Library.

The Llantarnam manuscript is not a beautifully illuminated text such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, for example, but nevertheless, it is a tangible link with the past. The original wooden covers are still in place. In some parts of the text it has been necessary to carry out some restoration work.

The manuscript is now housed in the British Library. Llantarnam Abbey Archives hold two photographs of the manuscript.

From the point of view of the history of Llantarnam Abbey, the document is interesting for a number of reasons:

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It is an item which was more or less certainly copied by hand in Llantarnam Abbey scriptorium and is about 800 years old.

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It has one or two interesting jottings which reveal glimpses of Abbey life prior to 1248. (See notes in the British Library))

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The front page shows that the manuscript was given as a gift to a new Monastery, Hailes Abbey, Gloucestershire in 1248.

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In those days, before printing presses and computers, such a gift was precious and indicates that Llantarnam Abbey was flourishing at that date.