Cwmhir Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Cwm Hir), near Llandrindod Wells in Powys, is a Welsh Cistercian monastery founded in 1176 by Cadwallon ap Madog. A spurious tale was later recorded that the abbey was founded in 1143 by Meredudd ap Maelgwn at Ty-faenor, and then refounded at the present location near the village of Abbeycwmhir in 1176. There does appear to be a site movement from Ty-faenor, but Maredudd ap Maelgwn was prince of Maelienydd in 1215 under Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth of Gwynedd, who then controlled the district. The later charter to the abbey in 1215 caused the confusion and led to the belief that Maredudd had founded the abbey in 1143.
The original lord of Maelienydd, a Welsh prince, Cadwallon ap Madog, was killed by the English Sir Roger Mortimer of Wigmore on 22 September 1179. Mortimer later made a charter as lord of Maelienydd in 1200. The community subsequently suffered over many years due to the blood feud between the descendants of Cadwallon ap Madog and the Mortimers. The princes of Gwynedd gave the monastery their patronage, and twice in the 13th century the abbey granges were burnt by English soldiers and in 1231 the abbot was also fined £200 for aiding the Welsh cause in helping Llywelyn ab Iorwerth destroy an English force near Hay on Wye. The headless body of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, last native Prince of Wales by direct descent, was buried in the abbey after his death in battle nearby in December 1282.