St Gyndalf Church, Llanwnda, Wales and other early churches and stones

St. Gwyndaf's Church is central to our village and easily leads to a discussion of churches and stones in the area.  I have had much fun wandering in the area finding churches that seem hidden and not.  St. Gwyndaf's is really a showpiece with early Christian carved stones, the first Bible printed in Wales and a beautifully restored interior.

As I have spent time in Great Britain and Ireland these last several months, I have been continually intrigued by the post-Roman adaptation of local life in which a distinct form of Christianity provided the key organizing principle of society.  While Ireland was the center of early Celtic Christianity, Scotland, Northeast England and Wales have all had different aspects to show me. This is not a scholarly exploration for me but something that grabs my attention wherever I wander.  Thus, I am writing more churchy stuff here than usual.  It might be a period that is not as well understood as earlier and later times.  The Wales government framework for archeological research, for example, has identified the early middle ages as a priority since relatively little is known about this period.

The current St. Gwyndaf church is from Norman times but was built with stones from the earlier Celtic church.  There are seven carved stones that can still be made out when the sun is right.  St. Gwyndaf was a local church and also a pilgrimage church for the devout going south to St. David's and possibly on to Rome or Jerusalem. I do not know much about St. Gwyndaf other than he was one of the early churchmen involved in preaching Christianity in the 6th or 7th C.

Although the age of the churches here in this part of Wales is similar to those in Ireland and Scotland that I have visited, the style is a bit different.  The steeple with two openings for bells is something I have found only here. Wales was controlled by the Normans later than some other areas so the basic structure of the buildings is generally Gothic.  I did not see any structures in which the underlying Celtic church was cosmetically updated with a few pointed windows as is frequently the case in Ireland.  It appears that the Celtic buildings were usually taken down to stones and rebuild.  My guess is that is how the carved stones were incorporated into the current St. Gwyndaf.  The importance of the stones for pilgrims was respected but the Norman style (and probably the Norman type of church administration) was firmly ascendant.

St. Gwyndaf has a holy well in the church grounds (photo below). I do not find much written about the continuity with the pre-Christian era in this area but I suppose the well is a Christian adoption of the pre-Christian belief.

Churches seem to have entrances on the west side toward the rear of the church at right angle to the altar, similar to the re-done churches in Ireland.  None seem to have the grand entrances facing the altar as in later High Gothic churches like York Minister or European churches.

St Gwyndaf's and the other local churches in the area that I have visited are all active churches, part of the Diocese of St. David.  It seems that all went through the closing of the monasteries which had been associated with many and most had been partially destroyed during the Cromwell period (standard practice was stabling horses in the church) but this is little remarked on in any of the written material. During the 18th C. many churches were restored to their current style.

The interior of St. Gwyndaf is quite lovely and well maintained now in the relatively plain style adopted at the time of restoration.

Antique Bible
The first Bible printed in Welsh, about 400 years old, was found in St. Gwyndaf's and is displayed there in a glass case.  The Diocese of St. David plans to move the Bible to a safer location but the local community members are unhappy about the impending move.  Read more here in the local newspaper. The Bible is charred around the edges where it was burned when the French invaded in 1797. (More about the French invasion in this post.)

Another Bible thought to be about 200 years old.

 Carved stones from early Christian era


This standing stone is in the churchyard of St. Peter's Church. The lines which barely show in the close-up are Ogham script, a pre-Latin script developed in Ireland.

 

The Latin stone and close-up (above) are in the entranceway of St. Mary's church in Spittal.  The script is Latin uncials written sideways on the stone. This church was a pilgrimage site in early Christian times and had a guest house attached for pilgrims to stay.  The stone is inscribed in Latin.  The people mentioned are not otherwise known from historical records.


Other small pilgrimage churches in the area

These and several other churches remain active churches of St. David's diocese.  The crosses on the churches and in the graveyards are Celtic style, presumably carried into the churches by the Norman reconstructions.

St. David's Cathedral

The main city of Pembrokeshire is St. David and is the seat of the Diocese of the same name.  St. David, the patron saint of Wales, is an early saint who brought Christianity to Wales from Ireland sometime after St. Patrick converted Ireland.  In addition to the cathedral and bishops residence, there is a small chapel a few miles away named after St. Patrick, who may have set off to Ireland from here. Excavations are being carried out there now to gather and preserve artifacts in danger of washing away in the sea.

St, David's was an important pilgrimage center from at least the 6 C. and David himself is thought to have gone to Jerusalem on pilgrimage.  As the Normans began to control Wales, this important religious site was created as a diocese, which was an administrative innovation of the Normans throughout Great Britain and Ireland.  There was a college and monastery, a grand bishop's palace and an ever grander cathedral built and added to from about 1180 through the Cromwell period in 1648.

This is one of the churches in the area where you can identify the center nave as built in the late 12 C. before Gothic architecture was introduced. (Photo below showing the rounded arches of the earlier period and the pointed Gothic arches of the outside aisles built later.)

The monastery and college previously attached to the north side of the cathedral was totally destroyed when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. Modern tourism has created a cafe in the remains where we tourists were happy to have our lunch.

The ceiling and screen separating the altar from the nave (photo below) is one of the last items built when the cathedral was at its height around 1540.  It was restored in the 19th C. after much of the interior of the cathedral was destroyed under Cromwell in 1648.

There is a shrine to St. David in the church with artifacts thought to be associated with him, including a Celtic bell used to call the faithful to worship.

13 C. Celtic style market cross in town center.
Cathedral tower is in background.

Cathedral showing Gothic addition and west entrance

Medieval carving

Nave with rounded arches and aisle with Gothic arches

Restored rood screen from 15th C.

Effort to excavate St. Patricks chapel,
long buried by sand.

Modern shrine to St. David and other early saints.

Early Celtic Christian bell