Llandaff Cathedral

Most visitors to Wales eventually find themselves in Cardiff (Caerdydd) the nation's attractive and fast-growing capital city. In addition to its magnificent Civic Center and imposing Norman castle, they will find the National Museum of Wales as well as the Welsh Folk Museum. They will also find, just two miles northwest of the city centre complex, the much-restored cathedral of Llandaff, situated in the village of the same name.

Unlike most Welsh churches, Llandaff is named not after a saint, but after the area in which it is located. The name translates as Church on the River Taff. Situated on one of the oldest Christian sites in the British Isles, the cathedral was begun in the l2th Century but rebuilt and modified over and over again throughout its history. During a bleak, terrible night in January l94l, a huge German mine exploded, destroying much of the cathedral, and it was not until the l960's that restoration was completed. Llandaff Cathedral once again took it all in stride; its whole history is one of destruction and reconstruction, of tragedy and triumph.

The cathedral is built in a hollow on a site that was probably the scene of ancient Celtic worship, for Romano-British burials have been found there. The first Christian edifice to occupy the site may have been founded in 560 by St. Teilo (see Llandeilo) bishop of South Wales who died around the year 580. Teilo built his church where a small Christian community existed founded by Dyfrig a generation earlier. Three saints connected with the church's early foundation, Teilo, Dyfrig, and Euddogwy are commemorated by the three bishops' mitres on the coat of Arms of the diocese of Llandaff. Norman Bishop Urban began building the present cathedral in the year ll20 when the Normans were consolidating their rule in that part of the country, but only very little remains of that early edifice apart from a Norman arch and traces of windows.

The greater part of the present cathedral, including the nave and chancel arcades, the West front and the chapter house were completed by l250. They were quickly followed by the Lady Chapel, erected during the bishopric of William de Braose. Llandaff is unique among the cathedrals of Britain as having no transepts (and for the initiated in these matters, neither does it possess a triforium). A great deal of strengthening and rebuilding then took place in the l4th century which had to last for over 300 years during which neglect and decay saw the cathedral's almost total destruction.

Pilgrimages to St. Teilo's shrine helped support the church with their offerings until the Reformation, when they were forbidden. During the English Civil Wars, it was reported that Cromwell's soldiers, in their usual lack of regard for the sacred, used the nave as a tavern and post office and the font as a pig and horse trough. They also burned the cathedral's priceless collection of books. And, of course, any statuary, icon, or stained glass within reach of a sword or halberd were ruthlessly destroyed.

More destruction was to follow. In the early part of the eighteenth century, great storms wrecked havoc on the already crumbling building, causing the roof of the nave to fall in and the SW tower to collapse. Restoration began under John Wood of Bath in the latter part of the century and again in l835 under John Prichard when a curious Italian temple built by Wood inside the walls was removed and much decorative work added (all of which was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in l94l). In the l960's the striking parabolic concrete arch that so dominates the interior of the cathedral was completed by George Pace, surmounted by a cylindrical organ case bearing a huge Christ in Majesty (The Majestas) worked in unpolished aluminum by world-renowned sculptor Jacob Epstein. Behind the high altar, the great Norman arch built by Bishop Urban in ll20 is also dominant. The tomb of St. Teilo was restored in the l9th century.

Of interest are also the Illtyd Chapel, dedicated to the memory of the 53rd Welsh Infantry Division; the Rossetti Triptych; the font; a Murillo Madonna and Child; the Teilo Chapel; the Lady Chapel; and the lovely stained glass windows from some of Britain's most distinguished post-war craftsmen and artists. A relic of the pre-Norman church is also on display, the tenth-century Celtic Cross that was hidden from Cromwell's soldiers but rediscovered in l870 as part of a wall and now situated in the south aisle. In l992 a new peal of thirteen bells was placed in the northwest tower with each bell named after a Celtic saint.

The survival of Llandaff is a miracle indeed. Visitors of today can only marvel at what has remained and been restored. Twelfth century visitors included such notaries as Geoffrey of Monmouth, who died here in ll54, and Archbishop Baldwin, who came here in ll88 to preach the Third Crusade accompanied by Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales). Legend has it that one saint buried here, Dyfrig (Dubricius) is the bishop who crowned Arthur as King of Britain. When Dyfrig's bones, brought here by Bishop Urban after being exhumed from Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli), were washed by the monks, the water bubbled as if a red-hot stone had been thrown into it. St. Teilo, the founder, is also buried here; to swear upon his tomb was considered to be an extremely solemn oath upon which, over the centuries, many a contract was sealed. In l736 one of the architects helping restore the cathedral opened St. Teilo's coffin and saw the corpse wrapped in leather, still sound, with his pastoral staff, pewter cross and chalice safely in place by his side.

Llandaff is indeed a sacred spot and a veritable treasure trove of Welsh history. Not too far away, other treasures are found in the City of Cardiff's museums, but of particular interest is one of the world's greatest folk museums, situated at St. Fagan's, just a short distance away from Llandaff. It is here, in the spacious grounds of St. Fagan's castle, that a large collection of buildings from all parts of Wales has been resurrected to show every-day life over the centuries. A row of miners' cottages, in addition to faithfully showing life indoors, even faithfully reproduces the gardens of different periods of history, including pig sties and pigeon lofts and the ubiquitous row of Brussel sprouts! Such are the attractions of St. Fagan's we could linger here all day, but It is now time to begin our travels once more, this time to St David's in the far west of Wales. On our way, we must stop for a short while at the place most often connected with Swansea-born poet Dylan Thomas, thus a spot most sacred to all who love modern literature