Grace Dieu Abbey was a relatively unsuccessful Cistercian Abbey that never reached the scale of Abbey Dore, Tintern or Llanthony and was always poor. It was founded on the west bank of the River Trothy in 1226, destroyed by Welsh raiders in 1233 and subsequently reconstituted on a new site, then possibly moved once more after troubles in 1276. It was dissolved in 1536 under the Act of Suppression. There are no ruins remaining, no sign of obvious earthworks, and attempts at geophysics have revealed nothing. Archaeologists currently think it was on the east bank of the river, but nobody is quite sure. All in all, Grace Dieu is a bit of a mystery.
The most notable thing about the area now is the herd of beautiful white Longhorn cattle that graze the adjacent floodplain. Former meanders of the River Trothy are visible as seasonal pools on the area south-west of GZ, and the area floods regularly in winter. The cache is on Offa's Dyke Path, and there is a sign on the gate to the north saying that this section of the route can be exceptionally muddy!
As the name suggests, the cache is hidden on a little bridge. Please be gentle with it and tuck it away carefully.
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The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast. There is a stats listing, so you can see how many Little Bridges you have found, you can find it here: - https://www.littlebridgesseries.co.uk. If you would like to add to the series, please go to this site, on the tab Get Involved click number request and fill in the form. To qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xxxx then the name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to stats list.