Brecon Cathedral

Most visitors to Brecon come here for the annual Jazz festival, one of the largest musical gatherings of its kind in the world, but we are here on a different mission. Brecon's Welsh name is Aberhonddu (head of the River Honddu); it is a pleasant market town of under l0,000 population. Briefly, the town dates back to the Roman occupation of Britain; was the 5th Century headquarters of the Welsh chief Brychan; is the site of a Norman castle; was attacked by Prince Llewelyn the Last and Owain Glyndwr; became an important center of the woolen industry in the l5th century; was the birthplace of Sir David Gam of Agincourt fame (and the model for Shakespeare's Fluellen), and also gave us the founder of Jesus College, Oxford (Dr. Hugh Price); the founder of the American Methodist Episcopal Church (Dr. Thomas Coke); a pair of famous actors (Charles Kemble and his sister Sarah Siddons); and a poet (Henry Vaughan, the Silurist). Opera lovers may also note that Dame Adelina Patti married her third husband here in l898.

As Welsh cathedrals go, the one at Brecon is not ancient, dating back only to its founding as the Benedictine Priory of St. John the Evangelist at the close of the llth Century. Giraldus Cambrensis was Archdeacon here in ll72, though not much remains of the church in which he officiated. Much of the present building dates from the l3th and l4th centuries, with Sir Gilbert Scott responsible for the extensive nineteenth-century restoration. Like St. Woolos Cathedral, St. John's church was granted cathedral status very late in its life. The honor was granted in l923 with the creation of the diocese of Swansea and Brecon as part of the new Church in Wales after its separation from the Church in England. Further restoration then took place, including the rebuilding of the chapel of St. Lawrence after more than 300 years of neglect and the restoration of the Harvard Chapel.

Inside the cathedral, small by English and European standards but interesting nevertheless, are found various items deserving of notice. Before the damage caused by the Reformation, the nave was divided into two by a rood screen: one half being for the use of the Benedictine monks and the other part for use as a parish church. Above the screen was suspended the Crog Aberhonndu (Brecon Cross), much celebrated in l5th century Welsh poetry for its miraculous healing powers. Destroyed at the Reformation, the Cross, or Golden Rood, made the cathedral an important place of pilgrimage throughout the late Middle Ages. The Norman font, the largest in Britain is also unique for its stone cresset with 30 cups. Many of the burial slabs are decorated with medieval floreated crosses, a feature common to the region.

In l537 the Priory of Brecon was dissolved, but fortunately the main edifice survived as the Parish Church of Brecon, remaining so until its elevation to cathedral status. Often visited for its beautiful choir vaulting, the cathedral also houses the Harvard Chapel, the regimental chapel of the South Wales Borderers (who won renown and 11 Victoria Crosses at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in the so-called Zulu War (depicted in the movie Zulu). The chapel also holds the Queen's Color of the 1st Battalion, thus commemorating the battle of Isandhlawana of l879. The cathedral also contains a rare Breeches Bible. After being silent for over 200 years, the l8th Century ring of six bells was replaced in l995. The l6th Century tithe barn is now used as a Heritage Center and craft shop. A restaurant is also available in the cathedral grounds. It is now time to leave Brecon Cathedral and its more than 900 years of history, and travel northwestwards to the tiny village of Cilmeri.