By the river Severn, in the lower portion of the field opposite the lay-by on the A483 by the canal, a little distance before reaching Pool Quay on the road from Welshpool, stood in the middle ages one of the thirteen Cistercian abbeys of Wales. Monks from the Carmarthenshire monastery of Whitland were settled here by the abbey?s founder, Prince Owain Cyfeiliog of Powys, in 1170. When he was ?at a great age? Owain died and was buried in the abbey of Strata Marcella. Whitland and its daughter-monasteries, including Strata Marcella, were strong supporters of the Welsh princes in the thirteen century.

     The monks of Strata Marcella founded another Cistercian abbey, at Valle Crucis near Llangollen, in 1200, and they also had the oversight of a Cistercian nunnery at Llanllugan near Llanfair Caereinion. There is no certain knowledge of how many monks first settled in the abbey at Strata Marcella, but it would have been at least thirteen (representing Christ and the twelve apostles) and perhaps many more, but by 1328 only eight monks are on record, and by the time the monastery closed in 1536, there were two or three at most.

   In the thirteenth century, Strata Marcella benefited from the patronage of the then lord of Powis, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, but a later lord (by marriage), John Charlton, was not so helpful. In 1328, he alleged that at the abbey were held ?unlawful assemblies to excite contentions and hatred between the English and the Welsh?, and he sought the replacement of Welsh with English monks. The abbey church and buildings suffered considerably during Owain Glyn D?r?s Revolt (1402 on), and by 1527 ? when the last abbot John ap Rhys was appointed ? the monastery buildings were said to be ?to a large extent in ruin? This prompted the abbey to issue one of the first printed indulgences, in order to gain alms for restoration work. After the closure of the abbey local people helped themselves to building stone, while the Crown tenant, Nicholas Purcell sold the organ to St Mary?s, Shrewsbury, and three bells to Chirk parish church. The cloister of the abbey formed Abbey Farm as late as 1780.

    The riverine site of the abbey was typically Cistercian, and valuable both for fishing and transport potential. Little remains now to mark the site, but it was excavated in 1890 by a noted antiquary, Stephen W. Williams, and was the subject of a geophysical survey one hundred years later. The church was perhaps around 200 feet in length. The excavation brought to light pillar bases and pier capitals, as well as decorative tiles. Some of these finds are yet to be seen in Powysland Museum, while the name of Abbey Close perpetuates the memory of the monastery.