Founded in the principality of Powys Fadog, in the ancient commote of Iâl (Yale), Valle Crucis was the spiritual centre of the region, while Dinas Bran was the political stronghold.

Not long after Madog's death, it is believed that a serious fire badly damaged the abbey, with archaeological evidence that the church and south range were affected.

[5] The completed abbey is believed to have housed up to about sixty brethren, 20 choir monks and 40 lay-members who would have carried out the day-to-day duties including agricultural work.

The abbey is believed to have been involved in the Welsh Wars of Edward I of England during the 13th century, and was supposedly damaged in the uprising led by Owain Glyndŵr.

Several important Welsh poets of the period spent time at the abbey including Gutun Owain, Tudur Aled and Guto'r Glyn.

After the dissolution of the monasteries, the site fell into disrepair, and the building was given to Sir William Puckering or Pickering on a 21-year lease by Henry VIII.

The lease was renewed under the reign of Henry's son Edward VI in 1551, but after Sir William's death in 1574, the property was passed to his daughter, Hestor.

Hestor married Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden and the abbey entered the family's ownership, before being sold shortly afterwards when the estate was sequestered by Parliament in 1651.

Valle Crucis Abbey is featured on the cover of the album Aria of Vernal Tombs by American metal band Obsequiae, released in 2015.