Historic churches and other Christian sites in South Wales

  • The Tudor mansion at Neath Abbey was created out of the abbot's lodging, the monks' dormitory and other buildings
    The Tudor mansion at Neath Abbey was created out of the abbot's lodging, the monks' dormitory and other buildings in the southeast corner of the cloister. The remains of the staircase leading up to the dormitory can be seen in the corner. Sir Richard Williams (also known as Sir Richard Cromwell) bought the abbey from the crown, and it was must have been either he or his son Henry who built the house. All the windows were new, but the Sutton stone used for them was probably recycled from the abbey ruins.
  • The townspeople of Chepstow (Monmouthshire) were able to acquire the priory church after the Dissolution. However, it was bigger than they needed so the chancel and transepts were allowed to fall into ruin
    In places where the priory church was also used by the local inhabitants as their parish church, they often bid for it after the Dissolution. In this way the townspeople of Chepstow (Monmouthshire) were able to acquire the priory church. However, it was bigger than they needed so the chancel and transepts were allowed to fall into ruin, taking the central tower with them. The tower was replaced by the port surveyor in 1706, by one at the west end of the nave. The chancel and transepts were eventually rebuilt in the 19th century to cater for a growing population.
  • In 1550, stone altars were replaced by wooden communion tables. This medieval altar slab ended up in the churchyard at Colwinston (Vale of Glamorgan)
    In 1550, stone altars were replaced by wooden communion tables. This medieval altar slab ended up in the churchyard at Colwinston (Vale of Glamorgan).
  • From 1538, all parishes were supposed to keep records of baptisms, marriages and deaths, although they were not required to write them down in a special register with parchment pages until 1597. These records had to be kept in a locked chest, like this one in the church at Llantilio Crossenny (Monmouthshire)
    From 1538, all parishes were supposed to keep records of baptisms, marriages and deaths, although they were not required to write them down in a special register with parchment pages until 1597. These records had to be kept in a locked chest, like this one in the church at Llantilio Crossenny (Monmouthshire). It has three separate locks – the incumbent and the two churchwardens each had a key to one of them. The parish chest was also used to keep the significant sums of money raised by the rates, and the three separate locks helped to prevent embezzlement.
  • The rood screen at Porthkerry (Vale of Glamorgan) with Tudor linenfold carving on the dado is in marked contrast to the elaborate decoration that survives on the rood screens of other churches
    The rood screen at Porthkerry (Vale of Glamorgan) with Tudor linenfold carving on the dado is in marked contrast to the elaborate decoration that survives on the rood screens of other churches. It may be that this was a quick replacement made under Queen Mary for an earlier rood screen that had been removed under Edward VI – this church was refitted at this time, as one of its bells, dated to the 1550s, has the Catholic inscription Sancta Maria ora pro nobis.
  • In the church of Llangattock Lingoed (Monmouthshire) The rood beam still survives, but the images it once supported, of the crucified Christ between the Virgin Mary and St John, would have been taken down at the Reformation
    In the church of Llangattock Lingoed (Monmouthshire) The rood beam still survives, but the images it once supported, of the crucified Christ between the Virgin Mary and St John, would have been taken down at the Reformation. In the 19th century during restoration of Kemeys Inferior church in southern Monmouthshire, part of a wooden figure of Christ from its rood loft was found hidden in the rood stairs.

The Reformation

When Henry VII decided to break from the pope so that he could annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Ann Boleyn, he set in train a course of action which was to have a profound effect on the church in England and Wales. Although Protestantism was beginning to make a stir in Europe, and England had produced its own home-grown proto-Protestants in the shape of the Lollards in the 15th century, Henry himself was a devout Catholic and had no intention of changing patterns of worship in the parish churches. Monasteries were however a different matter. Henry needed money to support his wars with France, and the monasteries, which no longer kept to their original ideals of poverty and communal living, were an easy target, no longer effectively defended by Rome. All monasteries had been dissolved by 1539, their buildings and lands seized by the king's commissioners and usually sold on to local gentry, who often used the monastic buildings as the basis of grand new houses for themselves.

Separate Acts of Parliament were passed to close all the chantry chapels that had been established so that masses could be said for the dead, and to seize all their endowments. Both chantry priests and monasteries had had a significant role in running schools, so this created a gap that was eventually filled by the creation of secular grammar schools.

Henry died in 1547 and was succeeded by the nine-year old Edward VI, with his uncle as regent. A true Protestant revolution now began. A purge began to free parish churches of features that were considered idolatrous. This involved taking down roodscreens and images and burning them, and covering wall-paintings of saints in whitewash.

However, Edward died young and his eldest sister Mary became queen. Mary had remained staunchly Catholic, and she instructed all the churches in her realm to replace all the images and other equipment. We know from documents kept in some parishes in England that the parishioners started to take out of hiding what they had been able to keep from the commissioners, but a lot had been destroyed and had to be bought new.

Mary also died without children, and the throne passed to her sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth was protestant, but not as hard-line as Edward. Although overtly Catholic objects had to be removed from the churches again, Elizabeth's legislation was not so draconian.

Charity by the monasteries had been the main source of help for the poor. When they were dissolved and their funds confiscated, the state had to find other ways to deal with the problem of people who were unable to keep a roof over their heads or food on the table. The solution was the Poor Laws – parishes now had to raise and administer rates to support these expenses through an organisation based around the church. These new responsibilities contributed to the parish as a recognised unit of local government.