The Cistercian abbey, now in ruins, was formerly affiliated to Tintern Abbey, in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire, whence its name. It was founded in 1200 by Earl Marshal William de Clare as an act of thanksgiving after he managed to escape from a violent storm when crossing from England. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16C, the abbey was given to the Colclough family who converted the nave and the tower into a residence.