He was so enamoured by the location that following this discovery, a church was built upon the site, dedicated to St John the Baptist and consecrated in 1108, after which a priory was founded. But most of its inhabitants left the area and travelled to Gloucester after many attacks and plundering from the Welsh, and it was left to Hugh de Lacy to rebuild this medieval Norman and Gothic style priory church, which was completed by 1217. Turner painted the ruins from the opposite hillside, and now the Abbey Hotel welcomes visitors from all over the world who can walk amongst the stunning ruins. Reaching the valley below the steep-sided ridgeway and out of the wind, they stopped for a lunch break in a sheltered spot overlooking the pretty Vale of Ewyas. An old footbridge led them south across the River Honddu for a climb on the opposite hillside along an ancient bridleway linking some of the lovely old hill farms in the area.