Special Events Issue 2012 www.stdavidsdiocese.org.uk YOU are welcome While you are in the area, why not visit some of our many beautiful and historic churches?

elcoming visitors to our churches is important to us. ae croesawu ymwelwyr i’n heglwysi yn rhan bwysig o’n In past centuries many were pilgrims, but today they gweinidogaeth. Dros y canrifoedd bu llawer ohonynt Ware joined by others, who come hoping to discover Myn bererinion. Heddiw, daw eraill yn eu plith, gan geisio within a church something of the story of its community, and the darganfod o fewn adeilad eglwys, hanes y gymuned, a’r Ffydd sydd faith that has continued to sustain and inspire its people into the wedi cynnal ac ysbrydoli pobl o’r dyddiau cynnar hynny hyd at yr 21st century. unfed ganrif ar hugain. The Diocese of St Davids They offer a great deal of choice covers the counties of and range from tiny buildings , and such as the Celtic church at , and offers Llys-y-fran to the single cell everyone the opportunity to medieval church of , to explore churches that have the large parish church of St been an enduring and significant Elli in , and the great part of the landscape for many Cathedral at St Davids. Some generations. These buildings lie along signposted trails such sit in an area that is rich in as that of Saints and Stones in Christian heritage and some North Pembrokeshire, or, like have been a focus of pilgrimage St Teilo in , contain since the 6th century, as people the treasure of an illuminated sought spiritual nurture and Gospel Book. wisdom in these sacred spaces. Inspire Hospitality We hope this snapshot of

Interest in churches, and all that © Carl Ryan photographer our churches, and the details they have to offer, has greatly in- St Michael & All Angels, Bosherston, Pembrokeshire of some featured here, will creased in recent times, as peo- encourage and inspire you to ple have rediscovered the riches As signposts of our herit- or industrial, and clues to explore further – you will find that places of worship contain age, you will find within the that variety are sometimes full details of all open churches within them. Each church is buildings, and the churchyards reflected in the material of the on the Diocesan website www. unique and has borne witness that often surround them, the buildings and the inscriptions stdavidsdiocese.org.uk/tourism/ to the worship of its community stories of the communities in on monuments, as well as the visitors, at Church Tourism over many centuries. Today they which they are set, as well as economic fortunes that built, Network Wales www.ctnw. continue that tradition as well the faith that has inspired and furnished and maintained these co.uk/home or by consulting as offering hospitality to all who sustained them in good times sacred places. church noticeboards in parishes. visit them, providing places of and bad. Today many churches are Revd Sarah Geach prayer, peace, tranquillity and These communities may open outside times of worship, Diocesan Tourism Officer historical interest. be urban or rural, maritime and keen to welcome YOU!

‘Byddwch lawen, cadwch y ffydd a gwnewch y pethau bychain’ – Dewi Sant ‘Be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things’ – Am ddim Free

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St Davids Cathedral St Mary’s, St Davids, Pembrokeshire SA62 6RH Main Street, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire SA65 9HH Tel: 01473 720507 Tel: 01348 872895 Open Monday to Saturday 9am – 6pm Open daily 9am – 5pm Sunday 1.30pm – 5pm t Mary’s Parish Church, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, was built he Cathedral is the mother Sbetween 1855 and 1857 on the site of a medieval chapel, to the Tchurch of the Diocese of designs of an amateur architect, Thomas Clark of Trowbridge, and St Davids and was begun in has an idiosyncratic Romanesque style. Unusually for an Anglican 1181. It is at least the fourth church, St Mary’s does not have a central aisle, but two side aisles church to have been built on and a balcony, in chapel style. It contains some fine stained glass a site reputed to be that on windows, including two by John Petts. which St David himself founded It is the burial place of Jemima Nicholas, renowned for her part a monastic settlement in the in the Last Invasion of Britain and immortalised in the Fishguard middle of the 6th century. tapestry. She is commemorated on a memorial stone next to the The present building was church. rebuilt and extended from the 12th to 16th centuries, with a recent extension in 1993. The Cathedral has been an important place of pilgrimage for nearly fourteen centuries. In 1124 Pope Calixtus II declared The restored Shrine of St David that two pilgrimages to St David’s were equal to one to The medieval Shrine of Rome, and by the late Middle St David has recently been Ages it was believed that three restored and dedicated on St journeys to St David’s were Davids day 2012. equal to one to Jerusalem itself. The building displays varied architectural styles and magnificent ceilings: oak in the nave, painted in the choir and presbytery and stone vaulted in Holy Trinity and Lady Chapels. The floor of the Nave slopes a St Mary’s, metre in its length and is framed Parsonage Lane, Begelly, , by leaning pillars. Pembrokeshire SA68 0YL In the Choir there are many Tel: 01834 812078 notable medieval misericords Open daily 10am – 5pm, Easter to October (shelves on the underside of the seats), and the Cathedral 13th century church with a weeping chancel (nave angled to Chapter is unique in having Aimitate the tilt of Christ’s head on the cross) and a squint. the reigning Sovereign of the The tower stands at 74ft and is probably the tallest church tower UK as a member. Several in Pembrokeshire. A major restoration, carried out in 1886 in the important people are buried arts and crafts style, included the building of a lych gate. The east Children’s Ascension Day Festival here, including Edward Tudor, window, installed at this time, is by Messers Clayton & Bell and of in the Cathedral father of King Henry VII. rare composition, showing the Risen Christ with Mary, his mother. It is dedicated ‘In gratitude to an unknown benefactor’ and refers to the Middlesex Antiquarian, whose identity was, and remains, unknown, but who funded the majority of the restoration. Begelly was at one time important in the mining of coal in south Pembrokeshire and the lime mortar of the church contains coal dust which reflects its industrial past.

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St Mary’s, Strata Florida , Pontrhydfendigiad, Ceredigion SY25 6ES Tel: 01974 299010 Open daily 10am – 6pm, April to September

t Mary’s Church, which is beside the Abbey at Strata Florida, Swas built in 1815, replacing an earlier building. It was restored in 1875 and again in 1914. The former Cistercian abbey, situated near , was originally founded in 1164. After the region around St Davids came under the Norman Marcher lordship of Pembroke in the early 12th century, the princely Dinefwr family of Deheubarth transferred their patronage to Strata Florida. The Abbey was dissolved in the 1540’s and the monastery buildings largely demolished, with the stone being recycled in surrounding buildings. It is unknown whether the present parish church of St Mary, was built from such stone, or is a rebuild of what would have been the visitors’ chapel for the monastery.

St Llawddog’s, Cardigan, Pembrokeshire SA42 2SA Tel: 01239 614500 Open Monday to Saturday 10am – 6pm Easter to end of October he churchyard at St Llawddog contains a megalithic standing Tstone or Ogham stone upon which Ogham writing can still be seen. Also within the churchyard is the burial site and memorial to William Logan of Mount Logan, Canada, fame. Logan was the first Director of Geological Survey in Canada and mapped the coal mines of South Wales. The Parish Church was, except for the 13th century tower, constructed in the 19th century.

Left: The Shell House, Cilwendeg SA37 0EW

Right: Wall painting, Holy Trinity, SA32 7NJ

Lower right: Carving at St Mary’s, Wiston SA62 4PL

For more information visit www.stdavidsdiocese.org.uk/tourism/visitors/

Pobl Dewi is the diocesan paper of St Davids and is published three times a year. Copies are available, free of charge, from churches throughout the diocese. The editor welcomes articles of interest – these should be no more than 400 words and sent to the Managing Editor, Tessa Briggs [email protected] Disclaimer Pobl Dewi and the Diocese of St Davids take no responsibility, liability or share the views or opinions of any articles contained herein. All information is the responsibility of the person or organisation submitting the article. Pobl Dewi take no responsibility for any errors or omissions The Diocesan Office, SA31 2JG

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St Michael’s Llanfihangel Rhos y Corn Near Gwernogle, Forest SA32 7RP Tel: 01267 202763 Open 8am – 8pm daily

he oldest part of the a prayer labyrinth, refreshment Tchurch was built in the table and prayer pebble pool. 13th century, the second nave Historically, Llanfihangel was added around 1500 and was a place of pilgrimage, with the lych-gate in the late 19th pilgrims climbing the steep century. ‘Rhipyn Seimon’ hill and then The church is set high on kneeling to pray on a large flat the mountain and lends itself stone from which they could to a quieter, meditative style first see the church. The fields of worship. It is surrounded by around became known as ‘Cear beautiful woodlands, farmland Paderau Bach’ – the fields of and valleys and offers its visitors little prayers. © Caroline Evans © Caroline

St Teilo’s, Llandeilo Rhosmaen Street, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire SA19 6EN Tel: 01558 823862 Open daily 11am – 4pm, Easter – end of October

church has been here century to record land trans- Asince the 6th century, actions, and settlements of legal being a daughter site of actions. These short passages Abbey, about 8 miles north of are of enormous importance, Llandeilo. The church building because they form the oldest seen today was completed in surviving examples of written St Luke, from the Llandeilo Gospels at St Teilo’s Llandeilo 1850 but the churchyard is Welsh, and tell us about social much older and divided into and ecclesiastical conditions in two by a toll road constructed this early period. in the mid 18th century. Before the end of the 11th Join Pobl Dewi on Llandeilo was known as a century, the Llandeilo Gospel Christian centre from the 6th Book was taken to Lichfield, century, when St Teilo chose where it remains today. How and to make it his base. The church this happened is unknown, which he left behind came to but it was probably given as be called Llandeilo Fawr, and the tribute to a Saxon king by centre of a religious community. one of the Welsh princes of Papur esgobaethol Tyddewi yw Pobl Dewi ac fe’i cyhoeddir Its greatest treasure was a fine the period. Today, by means of tair gwaith y flwyddyn. Gospel Book, probably written sophisticated digital technology, Mae copiau ar gael yn rhad ac am ddim, o eglwysi led-led yr in the 8th century, and donated the Llandeilo Gospel Book esgobaeth. Mae’r golygyddion yn croesawu erthyglau o ddiddordeb to the community around 820 can be seen again in Llandeilo, – dylai’r rhain fod yn ddim hwy na 400 gair a dylid eu hanfon at by a man named Gelhi. where it spent such a significant Tessa Briggs, y Rheolwr Olygydd, The margins of the Gospel part of its early history. [email protected] i’w hystyried. Book were used in the 9th

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