Woke up to the first heavy rainfall on our trip but since it was a travel day we were not too disappointed. We were heading for the village of Broadway in the Cotswalds but took a slight detour to Wales as we wanted to visit Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey. The rain was still coming down as we crossed a massive suspension bridge across the Severn River into Wales. Chepstow Castle sits on a hill and towers over its pleasant little village below. In 1066 the Normans conquered England and moved onto Wales. Chepstow was one of the first Norman stone-built castles to secure Wales and remained in use for this through 1690. After Chepstow we moved on to Tintern Abbey which was founded in 1131 by Norman monks and functioned as an austere Cistercian abbey until its dissolution due to Henry V111's Act of Suppression in 1536. This Act transferred all Church property to the King. The Abbey remained in ruins until the mid 18th century when restoration was started and continues to this day. It was a wonderful experience walking through the 250-foot-long, 150-foot-wide church ruins. After a light lunch we were off to our Bed and Breakfast accommodation in the village of Broadway.
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