This abbey, possibly the most important Cistercian abbey in the north of Wales, was founded in 1186 by monks coming from Strata Florida. The original site chosen for them was unsuitable and for several years the monks were unable to progress any building works. Within four or five years of the original foundation, the monks moved to a site near the mouth of the River Conwy which proved much more suitable for their needs. Llewelyn the Great provided the monks with the funding and patronage they needed to flurish. In 1283 after Edward I of England defeated the Welsh in north Wales the abbey was deemed to be in the wrong location as building work on a new castle was required. The king told the monks to move the castle to a new location at Maenan and provided them with the funds to allow them to do so. After the Dissolution in 1536 the Maenan abbey fell into disrepair and its stone robed for other building work. The first abbey's church still survives in part at St. Mary's church, the parich church of Conwy,