Planning a trip to Neath Abbey? From next Monday, parking by the ruins may be restricted at times while a car park is built for visitors.
When it’s finished, the site will have 26 car spaces and a bay for coaches on Monastery Road, right beside the ruins, Neath Port Talbot Council says.
Work starts on Monday 16 November and is expected to run into early 2027.
Neath Abbey and the canal towpath stay open during the Monastery Road works
The abbey will stay open throughout, and the canal towpath and the paths around it will stay open, the council says.
Drivers are being asked to park with care in the meantime, and not to block residents, businesses, construction lorries or deliveries.
Contractor Willis Construction Ltd will keep its compound inside the site and off the public road, according to the council.
The UK Government is paying for the scheme. The council has not said how much it will cost.
Founded in 1130, Neath Abbey later became a copper works
Norman knight Sir Richard de Granville founded the abbey in 1130, and it grew into one of the wealthiest in Wales, the council says.
Centuries later, during the Industrial Revolution, part of it was turned over to copper smelting.
Its ruins, now cared for by Cadw, are regarded as some of the most impressive in south Wales, the council says.
The site has been targeted before. Last year Cadw custodians reported vandalism at the abbey, including damaged signs and grass torn up by intruders using it as a bike track.
It is also a stop on the Haunted Histories trail, one of the county’s six ready-made weekend breaks, for its tales of ghostly monks.
Second Neath car park scheme this autumn, after Gnoll Country Park
It is the second visitor car park to be built in Neath this autumn. Work on 100 more spaces at Gnoll Country Park started in September and is due to finish in early December, the council said at the time.
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