Historic churches and other Christian sites in South Wales

  • Almost every church in Monmouthshire was rebuilt or in the Perpendicular style, or had new Perpendicular features added. Bettws Newydd Church (Monmouthshire) is no exception
    Almost every church in Monmouthshire was rebuilt or in the Perpendicular style, or had new Perpendicular features added. Bettws Newydd Church (Monmouthshire) is no exception. The makeover here included new windows throughout and a new west door, through which the worshippers when they entered would be overwhelmed by the magnificent rood screen and loft which stretched right across its width. When new it would have been brightly painted and embellished with images of Christ and the saints.
  • Almost every church in Monmouthshire was rebuilt or in the Perpendicular style, or had new Perpendicular features added. Bettws Newydd Church (Monmouthshire) is no exception
    The town of Trellech (Mon) was developed by the de Clare Lords of Glamorgan as a centre of iron production in the second half of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century and became very wealthy. This is the date of the splendid parish church in the Decorated style. The reticulated tracery of its west window suggests that it was put up towards the end of that period. Trellech fell into decline after the last de Clare lord died in 1314, so the townsfolk would not have been able to afford to update it later on with something more fashionable.
  • In the southeast corner of the nave of Llancarfan church (Vale of Glamorgan) recent restorations have revealed a series of magnificent wall-paintings
    In the southeast corner of the nave of Llancarfan church (Vale of Glamorgan) recent restorations have revealed a series of magnificent wall-paintings. St George can be seen between the window and the door, rescuing the princess from the dragon while her father looks on from his castle. Further into the corner can be seen two of the Seven Deadly Sins: the pair of lovers representing Lust are poised over a Hell's mouth, as is the suicide acting from Accidie, a state of indifference to his duties and obligations to God.
  • These 14th century effigies to the local lord and his lady still lie in their original niche in Oxwich church on Gower (Swansea).
    These 14th century effigies to the local lord and his lady still lie in their original niche in Oxwich church on Gower (Swansea).
  • The outside of Cheriton Church on Gower (Swansea) shows the Early English style at its plainest
    The outside of Cheriton Church on Gower (Swansea) shows the Early English style at its plainest, but inside there is carving of such refinement that some scholars suggest that it was built by the masons who were responsible for Llandaff Catheral.
  • This church is a very good example of an ordinary parish church in the Perpendicular style of architecture
    In the second half of the 15th century the burgesses of Kenfig (Bridgend) had to abandon their town because of encroaching sand, and they moved inland to establish a new centre at Pyle. A document of 1483 describes Pyle church as 'newly situated', and the date of 1471 is carved into one of the beams in the nave. This church is a very good example of an ordinary parish church in the Perpendicular style of architecture.

The Parish in the Later Middle Ages

The Middle Ages saw most parish churches rebuilt several times, at least in part. From the 13th century onwards, masons were experimenting with new ways of building. The rounded arches and heavy masonry of Norman architecture fell out of favour. Pointed arches became the new norm, and as time went by the masons gained the confidence to build walls thinner and make windows bigger and bigger. Architectural historians in Britain recognise three main periods of architecture between the early 13th century and the early 16th century. Early English architecture in the first half of the 13th century, with fairly narrow pointed arches, groups of lancet windows and restrained ornament, gives way around the middle of the century to a much richer style, known as Decorated, more heavily ornamented with cusping everywhere and h increasingly complex tracery for large windows. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century, the fashion in Britain changed to an emphasis on the vertical, which gives the new style its name of Perpendicular.

In some villages the masons working on the churches seem to have been based fairly locally. It is unlikely that they had the experience to attempt the more complicated aspects of the new fashionable styles, and the results are fairly plain. Sometimes the only way to tell that a church has been built at the end of the 13th century rather than the beginning is that the lancets have been built with cusped heads. However, in some parishes we can see a possible connection between the architecture of the church and the castle, and it looks as though the local lord has employed more cosmopolitan masons.

The most important activity to take place in the church was the mass. Mass was celebrated by the priest in the chancel behind the rood screen, with the congregation receiving communion only occasionally. However, congregations were very much involved in the life of their church, and were very active in raising money to beautify it. There would have been an abundance of wall-paintings , stained glass and carvings in wood and stone of saints and Christian symbols, designed to instruct the illiterate and act as a focus for devotion. Some of these embellishments, particularly chantry chapels, were linked to the practise of saying masses for the dead, to lessen their time in Purgatory.