Friends of St Woolos Cathedral

Spring Newsletter – March 2020

From the Secretary

2020 is already turning out to be a year of change for the diocese and the Cathedral. On February 1st the Rt Revd was enthroned as the new of . The Bishop was formerly Archdeacon of Rochdale and brings to her new post considerable experience as a priest and administrator. The service of enthronement, as well as the first service the Bishop led in the Cathedral on February 2nd, are both available on the new website. The ability to stream whole services is a new development and has been made possible by the provision of new cameras in the Cathedral. A word of thanks is owed to Canon David Neale who devotes much of his retirement to helping at the Cathedral and whose technical know-how has proved invaluable.

As we welcome the Bishop, so we say farewell to the who has announced his retirement with effect from April 26th. Always very supportive of the work of the Friends, the Dean has led the Cathedral through a period of rapid change and leaves it with a new constitution and way of working. A hallmark of the Dean’s tenure has been the acquisition of a number of new embellishments to the building itself, not least among these has been the recent arrival of a new nave altar. The altar, designed by the Dean himself, has been beautifully made by a Yorkshire firm in bird’s-eye maple and different shades of oak to reflect the Norman arches between which it stands.

This month’s article concludes the series on St Woolos in the sixteenth century by the late Tony Corten.

The Annual Lecture 2020

We are delighted to announce that the Very Revd Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford, has agreed to give this year’s lecture. In the light of the fact both our neighbouring diocese and ourselves are having new this year, the Dean’s lecture is entitled: Our English Neighbour – An illustrated and light-hearted canter through some of the 106 bishops of Hereford. Many of us will know the Dean. Formerly Vicar of Tewkesbury Abbey, since 2002 he has been a very popular and active Dean of Hereford Cathedral. Well regarded as a speaker, he has a keen sense of humour and his lecture should prove as amusing as it is instructive. At the moment the lecture is scheduled for Saturday May 30th at 11.30am in the Cathedral. We have chosen a Saturday morning to enable as many people to attend as possible. The outbreak of the coronavirus, however, may well mean that the lecture has to be postponed. There will be further information available nearer the time.

The Annual Outing 2020

At the time of writing it is still the intention to visit Winchester Cathedral in mid-July. Again, the restrictions resulting from the coronavirus outbreak may affect this and more information will be made available closer to the date.

Easter Services

Details of these are available on the website: newportcathedral.org.uk. In the light of current uncertainties, it is advisable to check these in case there are changes in the coming weeks.

The Parish Church of St Woolos in the Sixteenth Century – Part 3

Finally, what the appearance of the church was like in the sixteenth century it is difficult to know as so many changes were made in the nineteenth century. However, nineteenth century sources themselves might provide a number of clues. It has been suggested, for example, that the chancel may be part of what was a Lady Chapel. Later the chancel was enlarged. Octavius Morgan suggested that this was in the Decorated Style and had a perpendicular window at the east end.

The monuments in the church, which have been badly defaced, include a tomb of Sir John Morgan of Tredegar, a supporter of the new Tudor dynasty, who died in 1493.

Henry VII amply rewarded Sir John with the gift of office. He was knighted in Henry’s first Parliament and became Sheriff of Machen, Sheriff of Gwenllwg and Newport and Constable of . The fact that the tomb was made of alabaster is indicative of wealth. It may even have been made of black alabaster which is exceedingly rare. The effigy in armour wears a sash or collar of SS. Another alabaster monument is likely to be of Sir John’s wife, Janet, the daughter of John Matthews of Llandaff. It has been suggested that it was originally covered by a monumental structure and likely to have been in the body the church.

Another sixteenth century monument is the Herbert Tomb dedicated to the memory of Sir Walter Herbert (died c.1568). It is in the form of an altar tomb, made of limestone, surmounted by a canopy supported by three Ionic columns forming an arcade of two arches in the front. On the top of the canopy stood three stone vases. On the front of the altar tomb there are two oval escutcheons, one bearing the arms of Herbert and the other those of the Morgans of Pencoed. At the end of the tomb there is a large shield bearing both arms together. There is within the tomb a small fragment of an image of a recumbent knight which is very likely to have predated the Herbert tomb by centuries. Although the tomb at present is at the far end of the north aisle, it is likely to have been originally in the chancel on the south side. It has been suggested by one nineteenth century source that it might have been situated in the Chapel. Most of the monuments have been desecrated and may have been the target of Protestant extremists during the Civil War and Interregnum.

Although a little information can be gleaned from largely nineteenth century works, the virtual disappearance of contemporary sources means that any attempt to describe what the church was like is bound to be limited.

Tony Corten 1953‒2019