Handbook to the cathedrals of Wales. LLandaff, St. David's, St. Asaph, Bangor. With illustrations

Front matter

I

LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL.

FRONTISPIECE.

Preface

The appearance of the c Handbook to the Cathedrals of Wales ' has been much delayed in consequence of the extensive restorations which have been in progress for some time past. The Cathedrals have been filled with scaffolding ; and it was found impossible, until recently, to procure such drawings or photographs as were necessary for the Illustrations to the present volume.

This has been arranged on the same plan as the Handbooks for the English Cathedrals. The Churches of Llandaff and of St. David's have been described at considerable length — the former in Mr. E. A. Freeman's c Kemarks on the Architecture of Llandaff Cathedral,' published in 1850 ; the latter in Messrs. Jones and Freeman's 6 History and Antiquities of St. David's,' published in 1856. Since those dates the two Cathedrals have undergone extensive restorations, the details of which are described in the following pages. But it is impossible to write of Llandaff or St. David's without frequent reference to the books just mentioned ; and although iv

PKEFACE.

due acknowledgment of their value has been made in the notes to each Cathedral, it is proper to recognise in this place the extent to which the Author has been indebted to them. A similar use has been made of the Bishop of LlandafFs ' Account of Llandaff Cathedral,' in which the later history of the fabric is fully traced. And especial thanks are due to the Bishop and to Mr. Prichard, the architect of the restoration at Llandaff, for the kindness with which they have afforded assistance and information. At St. David's, the assistance of the Eev. W. B. Thomas, Canon of the Cathedral, and of the Eev. A. J. Green, has been not less valuable.

Sir G. G. Scott, E.A., has kindly supplied information relating to the three Cathedrals, St. David's, St. Asaph's, and Bangor, in the restoration of which he has been concerned.

Thanks are especially due to Mr. E. A. Freeman for permission to use some of the woodcuts belonging to his volume on Llandaff. Sir G. G. Scott and the Committee for the Eestoration of Bangor have allowed the use of some engravings, prepared by Messrs. Dalziel for the illustration of Sir G. Scott's second report on that Cathedral. The exterior and interior views of Bangor are from drawings made by Mr. Buckler, and lithographed by him on a much larger scale. The Eev. Dr. Sparrow, of Ludlow, who has successfully photographed many portions of St. David's, kindly supplied some photographs, which have been found of great service.

PREFACE.

V

Since the publication of the i Handbook for the Northern Cathedrals,' the last of the English series, the death has occurred of Mr. Orlando Jewitt, by whom the whole of that series was illustrated. To his great skill as an architectural engraver he added a knowledge of Gothic architecture which made his assistance of very unusual value. The engravings in the present volume are by Mr. J. W. Whymper.

RICHAED JOHN KING.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

WELSH OATHEDEALS.

Frontispiece — West Front.

Title-Page — Remains of the Bishop's Castle.

Plan 1

Proposed End of Italian Temple (in text) 10

I. Portal in the West Front 17

II. Interior from the West 21

III. Piers and Arches of the Nave 22

From Freeman's ' Llandaff Cathedral.'

IV. West End of the Nave— interior 23

From a drawing by Mr. Prichard.

V. Piers and Arches of Choir 24

From Freeman's ' Llandaff.'

VI. Window in the South Aisle of Presbytery . . . . 26

VII. Norman Remains on South side of Presbytery . . 34

From Freeman's ' Llandaff.'

VIII. The same Norman Remains, from the Aisle,

Plan of Piers in Nave and Choir 36

IX. Norman Arch at East End of Presbytery . . . . 38

Plan of Pier between Lady Chapel and South Aisle

(in text) 45

Window of Lady Chapel (in text) 47

X. North Portal of Nave 60 viii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

SI. gahto.

Frontispiece — General View from the South-east 105

Title-Page — Porch in Bishop's Palace id.

Plan id.

I. Portion of the Nave, showing the Piers and Arches

of the main Arcade ; and the Triforium .. 117 From a photograph by the Rev. Dr. Sparrow.

II. , III. Roundels from the Triforium .. .. .. .. 119

IV. Roof of the Nave 120

V. Interior of Tower (before the restoration) .. .. 130

From Jones and Freeman's ' History of St. David's.'

VI. East End of Presbytery 136

The lower window openings are filled with mosaics ; the

upper with stained glass.

VII. Piscina in St. Thomas's Chapel 157

From a photograph.

VIII. Rood Screen, between Nave and Choir .. .. 159

IX. Base of St. David's Shrine— Front 164

X. Back of St. David's Shrine 165

XT. [It has been found necessary to omit this plate, of which the subject was the Roof of Bishop Vaughan's Chapel.]

XII. Arched Recess in Bishop Vaughan's Chapel .. 187 The spaces between the arms of the central cross are

pierced, and open through to the Presbytery, immediately below the base of the central window.

XIII. General View from the North-east of the

Cathedral .. .. 200

Sculpture in head of Triforium (in text) .. .. 252

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ix

Frontispiece — Exterior from South-west .. 253

Plan id.

I. Interior from the West 263

II. Bishop's Throne and Stalls 268

III. Interior from the East 270 ganger.

Frontispiece— Exterior from South-west .. 290

Title-Page — Buttress of South Transept .. .. id.

Plan .. id.

I. Interior from the West 304

II. Exterior of South Transept and Choir 308

The restoration of the great window of the Transept is here shown.

III. Window in the North Transept id.

IV. Corbel Tables of Transept and Chancel .. .. 320

Ancient tiles found in the Chancel (in text) 322, 334

Introduction

§ 1. The fact that the four Welsh episcopal sees are the sole existing representatives of that British Church which was established in this country before the arrival or the conquests of the English, renders it desirable to prefix to this volume a short general notice of their earlier history.

At what time Christianity was introduced into Britain is altogether uncertain. The traditions or guesses which exist or have been hazarded about it rest on no authority whatever. Nor is the evidence alleged for the existence of a Christian Church in Britain during the second century at all more trustworthy. To this period belongs the story of the shadowy King Lucius, which, it would seem, originated in Rome during the fifth or sixth century. But from a.d. 200 to a.d. 300 there is sufficient proof that British Christians were numerous, and references are made to them by both Tertullian and Origen. It is certain, too, that during the following century the Church in Britain became settled and organised. British bishops (apparently of York, of London, and of Caerleon-on-Usk, answering to the capitals of Roman provinces) were present at the Council of Aries (a.d. 314), possibly at that of Sardica (a.d. 347), and at the Council of Ariminium in 359. There was frequent intercourse between the Churches of Britain and of Gaul, and it was from Gaul that Germanus (Bishop of Auxerre) and Lupus (Bishop of Troyes) were sent (a.d. 429) to confute the Pelagian heresy in Britain, the author of it being himself a British Christian. The persecution under Diocletian had been felt but little in Britain or in Gaul; and it is not certain whether St. Alban, xii

INTRODUCTION.

the so-called " proto-martyr of Britain," suffered at that period or somewhat later.a

§ 2. But in whatever condition the British Church was left at the departure of the legionaries, and however completely it had been organised, it is certain that it was utterly swept away in all those parts of Britain which were conquered by the English while still heathens. This was the whole of the southern, eastern, central, and northern portions of the island. The British kingdom of Damnonia or " West Wales," including parts of what is now Somersetshire and the whole of Devonshire and Cornwall, was not Anglicised until after the conversion of the conquerors, and it retained for some time its British ecclesiastical organisation. Wales remained independent much longer, as did the kingdoms of S'trathclyde and Cumbria, extending from the Mersey to the Clyde. In these districts the ancient hierarchy was still existing when Augustine (a.d. 603) held his famous conferences with the British bishops, at the place afterwards known as u Augustine's Oak;" somewhere, probably, on the plain of the Severn, not far from the site of Bristol. According to an old Welsh tradition the bishops who met there b were those of Hereford, Teilo (or LlandarT), Llanbadarn Vawr, Bangor, Llanelwy (or St. Asaph), Weeg (supposed to have been the see of a suffragan of LlandarT), and Morgan wg (or Margam). But this list is of little authority. It is more than probable that other British bishops, especially those of Damnonia, were present ; and it has been suggested that bishops of the parts of Britain then overrun by the English might have, and probably had, fled into Wales, and were still surviving. From these conferences, however (there were two), dates a schism between the British Church and that

a For all the evidence relating to the first period of Christianity in Britain see Haddan and Stubbs' ' Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents/ vol. i.

b Bede (H. E. ii. 2) says there were seven British bishops present.

INTRODUCTION.

xiii now planted by Augustine among the English, which was not healed for a considerable period. The points on which it formally rested were — a difference in the time of observing Easter, some variation in the form (probably in the number of immersions) of baptism, and the peculiarity of the British tonsure ; but national prejudices, and the hatred of the conquered for their conquerors, were, no doubt, strongly predisposing causes.

§ 3. The answer to Augustine attributed to the Abbot Dinoth (see below, note c), refers to the Bishop of Caerleon-on-Usk as exercising some kind of metropolitical jurisdiction over at least the other bishops of Wales. But this answer, at any rate in the form in which we now have it, is of much later date. It is possible that Caerleon had still a bishop at

c Dinoth, the abbot of a great monastery (nobilissiimun monasterium, quod vocatur lingua Anglorum Bancornaburg — it was probably Bangor Iscoed), is mentioned by Bede (H. E. ii. 2) in his account of the second conference. The answer to Augustine, attributed to him, was copied at the beginning of the seventeenth century by Spelman, from a Welsh MS. in the possession of Mr. Peter Mostyn, and printed in his ' Concilia/ Two copies of it, in Welsh, exist among the Cottonian MS. Spelmun's Latin translation is as follows : " Notum sit et absque dubitatione vobis, quod nos omnes sumus et quilibct nostrum obedientes et subditi ecclesiso Dei et Papse Romse et unicuique vero et pio Christiano, ad amandum unumquemque in suo gradu in perfectu charitate, et ad juvandum unumquemque eorum verbo et facto fore filios Dei. Et aliam obedientiam quam istam non scio debitam ei, quern vos nominatis esse Papam, nec esse patrem patrum, vindicari et postulari. Et istam obedient iam nos sumus parati dare et solvere ei et cuique Christiano continue Pra?terea nos sumus sub gubernatione Episcopi Caerlegionis-super-Osca, qui est ad supervidendum sub Deo super nobis, ad faciendum nos servare viam spiritualem." (See the Welsh original in Haddan and Stubbs' ' Councils/ i. 122.) This answer, although it may traditionally represent what was really said, is, in its present form, not older than the twelfth or thirteenth century.

xiv

INTRODUCTION.

the time of the conference with Augustine ; but it is more probable that the change which took place about that period had already been made. The see of Caerleon seems to have been the one Roman see for the province which included what is now the whole of Wales. But there were political changes in Wales contemporary with, and perhaps resulting from, the English advance to the Severn. The country broke into smaller principalities, and in each one of these an episcopal see was established. These were — Bangor, for the principality of Gwynedd (or Yenedotia) ; Llanelwy (or St. Asaph's), for Powys ; St. David's, for Dyfed (or Dimetia) ; Llanbadarn, for the principality of Keredigion (or Cardigan) ; and LlandafT for Gwent. Four of these remain, and are still the four episcopal sees of Wales. Llanbadarn became merged in the diocese of St. David's ; and two other sees — Llanafanvaur in Brecknock, and Margam in Glamorganshire — existed but for a very brief period, and were merged, the former in the diocese of Llanbadarn, and eventually of St. David's ; the latter in that of LlandafT.

Caerleon, in the Roman period, may well have been an archiepiscopal see ; but there is no direct evidence that it was so ; and the traditions on which the assertion was founded are not met with earlier than the twelfth century. The succession of its bishops is said to have ceased altogether when the bishoprics of the principalities arose ; and this was a transition from Roman to British organisation — from the bishop residing in the capital of the Roman province to the bishops of the new territorial divisions. It was not a change from one metropolitan see to another ; although this was the assertion on which St. David's, in the twelfth century, rested its chief claim to a metropolitical dignity. Each new see was apparently founded by the energy of one man, who became the great saint of his district (see the Second Part of each Cathedral), and who was reverenced therein more or less exclusively. The period between the years 400 and 700 abounds in native Welsh teachers and saints ; and the most

INTRODUCTION.

XV important of these were founders of episcopal sees, round, and connected with which, they established those great semimonastic communities which rank among the most noticeable peculiarities of the British Church. The principal churches in each diocese seem to have been also founded by the saint himself, and are those which have received his name.d Even Saint David, whose shrine afterwards became the chief place of pilgrimage for all true Welshmen, has not a single church dedicated to him throughout the whole of North Wales.

§ 4. The number of Welsh saints whose existence is sufficiently authenticated, and such facts in connection with them as may be safely received — as, for example, the many churches founded by the greatest of them in their respective districts, and the vast bodies of disciples gathered round the chief teachers in the monasteries or "colleges" — prove the activity of the Church in Wales at this period. There was a close connection with Ireland, with " West Wales " (what is now Devon and Cornwall), and with Brittany. In Ireland especially the monastery founded by St. David (see that Cathedral, Part II.) had a great reputation. Many of those afterwards known as famous Irish saints are said to have repaired to it for study and for the sake of St. David's teaching ; and, however this may be, there is sufficient evidence that St. David, during the latter half of the sixth century, greatly influenced the Christianity of Ireland. According to the remarkable document of Tirechanus (circ. 750), which divides the Irish saints into three orders,6 the first, " Sanctissimus " (shining like the sun), were those who took St. Patrick for their model, and followed his institutions. There followed a time during which faith was weakened in Ireland ; and the Welsh Church, under the auspices of St.

d See, for distinct evidence of this, Kees, ' Essay on the Welsh Saints.'

e A translation of this document will be found in Dr. Todd's 1 Life of St. Patrick/ p. 88. It is accepted by him as perfectly authentic.

xvi

INTRODUCTION.

David, St. Gildas, and St. Cadoc, undertook its restoration. The second order of saints, " Sanctior 99 (shining like the moon), were those who received their instruction and their Order of mass from these three Welshmen. To this second order belong St. Columba of Iona and the numerous Irish missionaries who spread themselves throughout Europe from the end of the sixth to that of the eighth century ; and from Iona, as we know, came the teachers of the Scottish Gael and Picts, besides those first bishops of Northumbria who restored the faith in that English kingdom after the departure of Paulinus (a.d. 633) and the extinction of the Christianity introduced by him. A link is thus distinctly established between the teaching of St. David at Menevia and that of the Northumbrian Church (to which belonged the great St. Cuthbert) as it existed during the short period between the reconversion of the kingdom by Aidan of Iona (a.d. 635) and the Council of Whitby (a.d. 664), when the so-called orthodox or Pioman system was adopted, and the Scottish bishop resigned his see.

§ 5. Whatever may have been the case with the see of Caerleon during the Eoman period, there is no evidence that any one of the existing Welsh sees enjoyed at any time a true primatial dignity. The bishops of the several sees, probably a single bishop in each case, consecrated to the other sees on a vacancy. It is true that Asser (a.d. 884), and the Dimetian form of Howel Dda's laws (928), call the Bishop of St. David's "archbishop ;" but the same title is given in the ' Atmales Cambrise ' and the ' Brut,' and also by Nennius, to the Bishop of Bangor (a.d. 768-809) ; and in the 6 Liber Landavensis,' archiepiscopal jurisdiction is vaguely claimed for the see of Llandaff. St. David, in the Llandaff histories, is only known as one of an equal triad — Teilo, David, and Padarn. It was not apparently until the eleventh century that a direct claim was made for the jurisdiction of David and his successors, not over Wales only, but over the whole of Britain. This first appears in Bicemarch's 'Life of St.

INTRODUCTION.

xvii

David ; ' but " the very arguments of Giraldus and of the Chapter of St. David's on behalf of the metropolitical power of that see, raked together with difficulty in the end of the twelfth century, show that no such power had existed within the memory of men at that time, and that no real evidence was to be found to indicate its having ever existed at all." f A traditional recollection of the metropolitanship of Caerleon (if that ever existed) may have led to the putting forth of such a claim by the later sees ; and there was very likely in Wales, as in Ireland, a confusion between the term " ard-epscop " (or its equivalent in Cymric) and the Latin " archiepiscopus." "Ard-epscop is, in Irish, "chief" or "eminent" bishop, as 'ard-righ" is "chief king," and "ardflle " " chief poet." g But the personal distinction of the person so named is in all cases signified, and not any peculiar dignity. There is no trace at any time in Wales "of any system resembling the Irish and Scottish (of government by abbots, with bishops as subordinate officers, discharging episcopal functions, but without jurisdiction), or, indeed, of any other system whatever than that of a diocesan episcopate."11

§ 6. The British churches gradually assimilated to, and fell into communion with, the English Church, as the power of the English kings made itself more and more felt in the different provinces. The Britons of Damnonia adopted the Roman Easter after the letter addressed to their King Geraint by Aldhelm of Sherborne in 705/ About a.d. 755 the

f Hadclan and Stubbs' ' Councils,' i. p. 149. 6 Todd's < Life of St. Patrick,' p. 16. h Haddan and Stubbs, i. p. 143.

1 The Cornish, or Dainnonian, bishops seem, long before this letter was written, to have been on closer terms than the Welsh with the English Church. It is probable that the two British bishops whom Wini, the English bishop of Wessex, joined with himself for the ordination of Ceadda in a.d. 664, were Cornish. (Bede, H. E. iii. 28 ; and see Haddan and Stubbs, i. p. 124.) The limits of Damnonia were gradually narrowed ; and after Egbert's xviii

INTRODUCTION.

North Welsh adopted the same system, at the persuasion of Elbodg, Bishop of Bangor; and the change was made in South Wales in 777. About a century later occurs Hubert " Sais," the Saxon, as Bishop of Menevia (St. David's), who is said to have been consecrated by iEthelred, Archbishop of Canterbury, "an act which appears to mark a complete, though perhaps a temporary, subjection on the part of the Church of St. David's, and it would seem to be connected with the submission of the South Welsh princes to the West Saxon monarch (Alfred), and the desire of the Menevian clergy to enlist him on their side." k Two other bishops of St. David's were consecrated by iElfric of Canterbury between 995 and 1005 ; and three bishops of Llandaff were consecrated by Archbishops of Canterbury between the years 972 and 1022. These cases distinctly indicate a certain domination of Canterbury — a domination which, like that of the English kings over the princes of Wales, might at any time be roused into activity, and was then little likely to be resisted with success. (See ' St. David s Cathedral,' Part II.) The fact seems to be that the Welsh Church, although in full communion with the English, maintained a precarious independence until after the Norman Conquest. Norman bishops were then intruded into each Welsh see — (for the history, see the second part of each Cathedral) — and the ancient British Church became fully merged in that of England.

victory over the Cornish and Danes in 835, Devonshire became more closely attached to Wessex. Cornwall, between 833 and 900, was still a separate principality, but was subject, ecclesiastically and civilly, to the English Church and king. From 931 the British bishop of Cornwall was a recognised suffragan of Canterbury ; the first English bishop of Cornwall appears about 950, when the British succession ceased; and about 1026 the Cornish see wa3 merged in that of Crediton or Devon. The united see was transferred to Exeter in 1050. k Jones and Freeman's ' Hist, of St. David's/ p. 262.

INTKODUCTIOX.

xix

The history of the existing Church in England begins therefore, with the coming of Augustine in a.d. 596. Christianity, and an organised Church, had been introduced in this country long before, and survived. • But the British Church, after losing all its distinctive peculiarities, was gradually absorbed in the Church of the conquering races, and, like that, was ruled from Canterbury.

C

REFERENCES.

A. Nave.

B. North- West Tower.

C. South- West Tower.

D. Choir.

E. Presbytery.

F. Lady Chapel.

G. Chapter house.

C. C. C/ioir Pistes.

Altar Tomb of Christopher Mathew

and Wife.

Effigy of Bishop de Bruce.

3. Tomb called St. Teilo's.

4. Monument of Bishop Marshall.

5. Effigy of St. Dubricius.

6. Ancient Reredos.

Altar Tomb of Sir David Mathew ?

~. Effigy of Lady Audley. 9. Altar Tomb of Sir William Mathew and Wife.

10. Effigy of a Bishop.

11, ll. Line of front of the ' Italian Temple.'

N. Door of Nave.

S. Door of Nave.

U. 15. Small Portals.

Modern Portal.

The dotted portions of the Plan mark work which has been added during the late restoration.

PLAN OF LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL,.

Part I

fistflrg anfr Retails.

J Llandaff Cathedral^ as it now exists, is some- # thing more than a restored church. Its most striking external features, the south-western tower and spire, were only represented in the ancient cathedral by

a Two books must here be mentioned, with an acknowledgment of the free use which has been made of them — ' Remarks on the Architecture of Llandaff Cathedral, with an Essay towards a History of the Fabric,' by Edward A. Freeman, London, 1850; and 4 Some Account of the Condition of the Fabric of Llandaff Cathedral, chiefly from 1575 to the present time,' by the Bishop of Llandaff; London, 1860. Mr. Freeman's was the first scientific account of the cathedral ; and all succeeding writers on the subject are necessarily indebted to him in no small degree. The Bishop of Llandaff describes at length, and with very interesting details, the changes of the building since it was first allowed to fall into decay, and the restoration, so far as that had advanced in 1860.

Browne Willis's ' Survey of Llandaff Cathedral ' (1718), supplies some valuable documents, and is the best authority for the condition of the church early in the eighteenth century. Willis's original MS. (with an unpublished Appendix) is preserved in the Bodleian Library (No. xxxvi. of his folio MSB.) The Appendix contains fifty-six letters from one correspondent,

B

2 f tenbaff «a%*ral

tower considerably lower and less enriched than that on the north-west. There was no spire. In other respects, the external outlines have undergone change ; especially by the addition of a lofty pointed roof to the chapter house. The appearance of the church, therefore, differs greatly from that which it presented when in its perfect condition at the end of the fifteenth century. But, in the course of the restoration, every ancient portion throughout the cathedral has been most scrupulously retained ; and remaining details have supplied authority for the renewal of such parts of the building as had altogether perished. The entire restoration is one of the most remarkable and, in all those parts of the church which are not entirely new, one of the most conservative, which has ever been carried out in this country. That of Ely is, of course, far more splendid. But no British cathedral had undergone such changes, or had remained for so long a time in neglect and ruin, as Llandaff when the restoration was first undertaken. It has been truly said that no such work has been effected, since Lichfield Cathedral was restored by Bishop Hacket after it had been shattered and half-ruined by the forces of the Parliament.

In order, therefore, to understand the existing cathe-

Thomas Davies, between 1720 and 1745, on the state of Llandaff Cathedral. There is also a statement drawn up by Willis himself, addressed to a Dr. Saunders, and describing the wrretched condition of the whole building. The organ and organist, he says, had " breathed their last about thirty years before."

dral of Llandaff, it is first necessary to describe briefly the changes which the building has undergone from the foundation of the Norman church in the twelfth century to the completion of the late restoration.

II. Urban, the first Bishop of Llandaff (1107- 1133), appointed under Norman influence, after translating from the island of Bardsey the relics of St. Dubricius, founder of the see of Llandaff, proceeded to rebuild his cathedral. The church which Urban found existing was very small ; and its entire length (including what seems to have been an eastern apse) did not exceed 40 feet.b The new cathedral

b " Et prsedictus Antistes " (Urbanus) " vir bonae memorise, videns loci parvitatem, in longitndine xxviii. pedum, in latitudine xv., altitndine xx., et cum duabus alis ex utraque parte, admodum parvse quaDtitatis et altitndinis, et cum porticu xii. pedum longitudinis et latitudinis, rotundse molis ; consilio Kadulphi Cantuariensis ecclesise Archiepiscopi " (Ralph d'Escures, translated from Rochester to Canterbury in 1114, died 1122), " et totius cleri et populi ejusdem, ccepit monasterium majus construere in honore Petri Apostoli, et sanctorum Confessorum Dubricii, Teliaui, Oudocei Millesimo centesimo vigesimo anno, xviii. cal. Maii mensis " (April 14, 1120), "et in quarta feria passionis, et acceptis sibi et ecclesia3 suae his Uteris Domini Archiepiscopi, cum data benedictione et perdonatione omnibus auxiliaturis, inceptum opus." (Liber Landavensis, p. 83 ; in vita S. Dubricii.) The addition of St. Peter to the Welsh saints, who had been the patrons of the former church, must be regarded as the act of a conqueror, just as Bernard, the first Norman Bishop of St. David's, placed his cathedral under the patronage of St. Andrew in addition to that of St. David. (There was a Llandaff tradition that the cathedral was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul ; and the royal grant, printed in Browne Willis, p. 1G3, mentions the "gloriosos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum in quorum honore ecclesia Landavensis sedificata et constructa exist it.") The small church removed by Bishop

B 2 i was begun in 1120, and was probably completed by Bishop Urban, although of this there is no record. Indeed, the foundation of the Norman church is the only fact relating to the architectural history of the building which has been recorded at all. The 'Liber Landavensis,' a volume of documents relating to the see, was drawn up about the year 1133 — shortly before the death of Urban.0 Llandaff has found no subsequent chronicler ; and for the later history of the church we are dependent altogether on an examination of the actual building.

Urban's cathedral, although much larger than the British church, seems to have been of very moderate dimensions. In the Early English period, the church

Urban " may in one respect Lave equalled the most gorgeous structures of succeeding ages ; it was doubtless the best offering

its founders could make To national feeling it must

have spoken in a manner which its successor could never rival. It is a strange and not altogether pleasant thought, and one in which Celt and Saxon may singularly unite, that the greatest advances in architectural skill and splendour in both countries alike were the result of a foreign occupation ; that not only the castle, but the minster itself were, in fact, badges of national misery and humiliation.'' — Freeman, Archit. of Llandaff Cathedral, p. 46.