Pre-history Three caves have been discovered on the island and excavated to unearth archaeological finds: Nanna's Cave, Potter's Cave (1950) and Ogof-yr-Ychen ("Ox cave", 1970). In Nanna's Cave, human bones and shells were first found in 1911 and excavations continued in three more stages until the 1970s. Potter's Cave was found in 1950 by a monk named James Van Nedervelde, and excavations, which continued until 1970, initially revealed
stalagmites in which tools and animals were embedded. After removal of these finds, three human skeletons were found and carbon dated: two were dated to the
Middle Stone Age and one to the Romano–British period. Also found were a few artefacts from the late
Upper Paleolithic period. In Ogof–yr-Ychen, the bones of humans whose burials date between 7590 BC and 5710 BC were found.
Stable isotope ratio tests revealed that they lived on marine food. A very few earlier neolithic bowls and shells have also been found in the caves. All the finds were carbon dated and have been preserved in the Abbey of Caldey Island or in
Tenby Museum and Art Gallery.
Recorded history A
Celtic monastery was first established on the island in the 6th century, and the island thrived during the
Middle Ages. Following the Norman Conquest,
Robert fitz Martin, Lord of
Cemais, gave the island to his mother Geva. In the 12th century,
Caldey Priory (now a Grade I
listed building) was established by Tironensian monks as a daughter house of
St Dogmaels Abbey, and lasted to the
dissolution of the monasteries in 1536. The north side of Caldey Island is made up of grey
limestone, a desirable building material. The 19th century seems to have been the height of limestone quarrying on the island; some of the limestone was taken to the
Annery kiln in the district of
Torridge in north Devon for processing. The current abbey was built in 1910 by Anglican Benedictine monks but financial problems beginning in 1925 led to the 1929 purchase of the property by Belgian
Cistercians. It is considered to be the most complete example of the
Arts and Crafts style in the country, and was the largest project of
John Coates Carter. At the time of building, the abbey was called "the greatest phenomenon in the Anglican community at the present time". The roofs are of white
roughcast with red tiling, and the abbey church has five side-windows and on the south a "tapering" tower with primitive
crenellations. Caldey Island and St Margaret’s Island have together formed an ecclesiastical district for as long as the locals can remember, with 20 Cistercian monks living at the monastery . The Census Reports of the County of Pembroke record it as an ecclesiastical district for administrative purposes. The Caldey Island Act 1990 added the island to
Dyfed and
South Pembrokeshire, and to
Pembrokeshire parliamentary constituency. Father Thaddeus Kotik was found to have sexually abused six girls on the island between 1972 and 1987 in a 2017 civil court case. In 2011 a fugitive charged with possessing indecent images of children was arrested at the abbey after living there for seven years. Two other men, Father John Shannon and John Cronin, convicted of sexual offences involving children have also been linked to Caldey Island. In 2017
Welsh Conservatives children's spokesman,
Darren Millar, called for an independent inquiry into historical child sexual abuse on the island. In April 2024 Caldey Abbey commissioned an independent review into the historical child sexual abuse, led by leading social worker and former assistant police and crime commissioner at South Wales Police, Jan Pickles OBE, which was completed, and published in December 2024. The island now works with The Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA), and has appointed a safeguarding officer to ensure such events are not allowed to repeat and ensure the island is safe for visitors in the present and future. In December 2024, the abbot, Father Jan Rossey, apologised for the abuse and its cover-up. Monks have agreed to a 'no touch' policy for visitors and will report any accidental physical contact, as recommended by the independent review. ==Geography ==