 The abbey was founded in 1147 by Robert fitzHarold of Ewyas, the Lord of Ewyas Harold, possibly on the site of earlier wooden monastic buildings of which no traces remain.The abbey is located close to the River Dore.It was formed as a daughter house of the Cistercian abbey at Morimond in France, perhaps after Lord Robert had met the Abbot of Morimond on the Second Crusade.