Dore Abbey was founded for Cistercian (or white) monks, by Robert, Lord of Ewias, about the end of the reign of Henry I., or the beginning of that of King Stephen, in whose third year various gifts were made to it by Harold de Ewias, father of the above Robert. Besides the valuable endowments made by the founder, considerable benefactions were bestowed by other eminent personages; and King John increased the possessions of the monks by a grant of all the land between the Dore river and a rivulet called Trivel brook. His successor, Henry III., in his seventeenth year, confirmed all the grants, charters, and donations that had been made to the abbey from its foundation. The monks having thus acquired extensive possessions, and become very affluent, began the erection of a magnificent church, which was completed in a very elegant manner in the Pointed style of architecture.

At the time of its suppression, the revenues of this abbey were, according to Dugdale, £101 5s. 2d.; but Speed records the yearly income at £118 0s. 2d. In the 31st of Henry VIII., the site and demesne land of Dore Abbey were granted to John Scudamore, Esq., of Holme Lacy, who afterwards purchased the tithes of the parish, which having been originally granted to the Earl of Devonshire, had passed through various hands. The chapter-house, cloisters, and other buildings belonging to the abbey were pulled down, and the materials sold soon after its suppression, together with part of the church; but enough of the latter is still left to show that it was built in the cathedral form, and that its architecture was very elegant.

During the reign of Charles I., John Viscount Scudamore obtained a license to rebuild this fabric, and to endow it with all the appropriated tithes of the parish; it was not, however, entirely rebuilt, but underwent considerable repairs, and in the year 1634 was reconsecrated by Theophilus Field, Bishop of St. David's. This edifice, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a large and handsome building, and has a western transept, chancel, north and south aisles, porch, font, and beautiful stained glass windows, with a well-proportioned and massive tower in the Norman style, containing six heavy bells.

It has several curious monuments and tablets, and a remarkable stone coffin, which was found under the church. Beneath an arch is a mutilated figure, carved in freestone, said to be the effigy of Robert de Ewias, founder of this abbey, who is recorded to have been buried here, together with Robert, his son, and several others of his family. Another broken and defaced statue, in the north aisle, is said to represent Sir Roger de Clifford, the younger, who was also buried here, as were Sir Alan Plokenet and William Grandison, Lords of Ewias Harold, and various other illustrious persons. There are two handsome monuments in memory of Rev. William Watts and Rev. Digby Cotes, former rectors of this parish. The living is a rectory, in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Weobley; value, £688, with residence and 9 acres of glebe; patron, Captain Thomas Freke Lewis; rector, Rev. Alfred Phillipps, Associate of King's College, London, who was instituted in 1868.

There are charities of about £40 yearly value. The National school for boys and girls is under Government inspection; average attendance about 50. It is endowed with £7 10s. per annum. Upwards of £160 have been recently spent upon the enlargement and improvement of the school. The union workhouse is capable of accommodating about 150 inmates. The guardians meet at the board-room every alternate Monday. Dore Union district comprises 27 parishes in Herefordshire and 2 in Monmouthshire, extending over an area of 74,917 statute acres; and contained in 1871 a population of 9,556, with 1,997 inhabited houses. The justices for Dore petty sessional division meet at the police station fortnightly. It has been recently proposed to construct a railway through the Golden Valley to join the Great Western line at Ponrilas. Abbey Dore Court is the seat of Captain Thomas Freke Lewis, J.P. and D.L.