The lost princess

There is a corner of a foreign land that is forever Wales. There was no packing, collection or delivery today so I went for a walk on the other side of the fen to Sempringham abbey, formerly an important medieval priory.  It was built by St Gilbert, the only English saint to have founded a monastic order.  At the entrance is a slate monument recording the life of the last Princess of Wales. Gwenllian was born around 12 June 1282 at Garth Celyn, Abergwyngregyn near Bangor. The exact date of her birth is uncertain. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last ruling Prince of Wales before the English conquest, was her father, and her mother was Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of the French baron Simon de Montfort who played a key role in English politics at that time. Eleanor died shortly after Gwenllian was born.
Llywelyn was killed on 11 December 1282. The circumstances of his death are disputed but his death was probably engineered by Edward the First. About six months later the whole of Wales came under Norman control. Little Gwenllian was Llywelyn's heir, and Edward the First, King of England, did not want her to have children who might rebel against him, so at the age of a little over one she was taken to the convent at Sempringham in Lincolnshire. She spent the rest of her life there. She died there on 7 June 1337 aged 54.
Only the isolated Parish church remains. A holy well its situated in the churchyard.  There is still water under the cover although the pool is dry. (see extra)