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A SHORT HISTORY
Historical Landmarks
Llandaff Cathedral stands on one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain. In the sixth century St
Dyfrig founded a community close to the ford where the Roman road crossed the river Taff. He was succeeded by St Teilo and then Teilo's nephew,
St Euddogwy. These three Celtic Saints remain patron saints of the present Cathedral and are represented by the three mitres in the Cathedral
badge. Nothing remains of the original church but a Celtic Cross that stood nearby can still be seen near the door of the Chapter House.
 The present cathedral dates from 1107
when Bishop Urban, the first Bishop appointed by the Normans, instigated the building of a much larger church. The arch behind the High Altar
was built at that time and the doorway that now leads to the St David (or Welsh Regiment) Chapel may have been the West door of Urban's church until it
was moved to its new site when the Cathedral was extended and widened and a new West front built about 1220. This West front is judged by many to be
one of the two or three most notable mediaeval works of art in Wales.
 Later
in the 13th century the Chapter House was built and also before the century
ended the Lady Chapel which has largely escaped the damage and decay that the
cathedral sustained over the following 700 years. In the 14th century came
the replacement of the Norman windows by new ones in the Decorated style; then,
before the end of the 15th Century came the building, by Jasper Tudor, of the
North West tower as a new home for the Bells which had previously been housed in
a detached Bell Tower, now ruined. This Bell Tower had been built two hundred
years earlier at the top of a small hill which in pre-Norman times provided the
original church and community that lived around it with security from the
unwelcome attention of marauders sailing up the Bristol Channel little more than
a mile away.
Until the time of King Henry VIII, Jasper Tudor's kinsman, pilgrims thronged to the shrine of St Teilo whose tomb still
stands in the sanctuary, and their gifts supported the church. When pilgrims were forbidden and other revenues taken away it was no longer possible to
maintain the building adequately and over the next 200 years it fell into a state of near-ruin.
In 1734 restoration began in the popular style of the day but the "Italian Temple" which John Wood, the Bath architect,
planned to construct in the fabric of the mediaeval cathedral was never quite completed and the original walls and pillars - or such of them as were
still standing - still remained. A hundred years later, new life and growing prosperity in the Diocese made possible a fresh restoration undertaken by
J F Seddon and John Pritchard. To them we owe much of the present structure including the South West tower and spire, completed in 1869, which
replaced the early-12th century tower which collapsed in 1722.
 A great deal of the 19th century work inside the Cathedral perished when the building was
heavily damaged and the roof destroyed in the 1939-45 War . Its restoration was entrusted to George Pace who aimed at blending new work with what
remained of the old and at giving the Cathedral a sense of spaciousness which it previously lacked. The High Altar was lowered and the triptych of the
Seed of David by D G Rossetti which stood behind it was moved to a new position in
the St Illtyd Chapel at the foot of the North West tower. Pace built the Welch Regiment Memorial Chapel but his greatest achievement is the reinforced
concrete arch surmounted by Sir Jacob Epstein's aluminium statue of Christ in Majesty which stands between the Nave and the Choir and
"breaks", without interrupting, the view of the whole building from the top of the steps inside the West door to Geoffrey Webb?s Jesse window at the
East end of the Lady Chapel.
The cathedral church is one of the principal instruments used by the Church, gathered round its bishop,
in its work of praising the Holy Name of God and enlarging His kingdom. For this task it needs to be constantly conserved, adorned and provided with
the facilities it requires, and this is taking place in the early years of the 21st century, no
less than in the past, as the House of Teilo, as Llandaff Cathedral has been called after the bishop who built the first church on the banks of the
River Taff behind its protective hill, continues its work in the next millennium.
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LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL
|
1120 |
The Normans start to build the present Cathedral on
the site of a small church which had stood here since circa 560. |
|
1190-1220 |
The Nave and the West Front. |
|
1250 |
The Chapter House and detached belfry on the Green
|
|
1287 |
The Lady Chapel |
|
1485 |
The Jasper Tower built by Jasper Tudor |
|
1590 |
Ruin after Reformation, For a century and a
half the Nave was in ruins, and only the Lady Chapel was used. |
|
1736 |
Partial restoration reaching a point in the Nave
marked today by the special paving. The Architect, John Wood of
Bath; classical style; an "Italian Temple" was build within the walls
of the Presbytery and Nave. Much mediaeval work was destroyed. |
|
1843 |
The nineteenth century total restoration by John
Prichard and J.P. Seddon was begun. All the eighteenth century work was removed. The
pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was commissioned to work in the Cathedral. |
|
1857 |
the first part of the restoration was completed.
The Presbytery, Choir, and half the Nave were opened. The Bishop
of Oxford - Samuel Wilberforce - preached [16th April]. |
|
1860 |
The Cathedral Organ was dedicated, the first
instrument since the last part of the 17th century [17th September]. |
|
1869 |
The whole Cathedral was completely restored.
The Prichard Tower (with spire) was built. |
|
1880 |
The Cathedral School was re-founded by Dean Vaughan,
the only surviving Choir School in Wales. |
|
1941 |
A German land mine reduced the Cathedral to almost
complete ruin [2nd January]. |
|
1942 |
The Lady Chapel and Presbytery were reopened for
worship, but only temporarily restored [30th April]. |
|
1949 |
The restoration begins under Mr George Pace who was
appointed Architect to succeed Mr Charles Nicholson. |
|
1951 |
The Jesse east window of the Lady Chapel was
dedicated [20th October]. |
|
1952 |
The two south windows of the Lady Chapel were
dedicated. |
|
1956 |
The Welsh Regiment Memorial Chapel was dedicated
[22nd September]. |
|
1957 |
The restored Nave was hallowed for use by Archbishop
John Morgan [10 April]. |
|
1958 |
The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division Memorial Chapel
was Dedicated [26th April].
The reconstructed Hill, Norman & Beard organ was dedicated [8 October]. |
|
1959 |
The John Piper window above the Sanctuary Arch was
dedicated [4th October]. |
|
1960 |
The High Altar 17th century Candlesticks and
mediaeval Crucifix were dedicated [19th June]
The Pulpit, a memorial to the late Archbishop John Morgan, was
dedicated [28th July].
Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the restoration of the Cathedral and
for fourteen centuries of Christian witness in this place [6th August]. |
|
1980 |
The screen in the St Dyfrig Chapel, a memorial to
Archbishop Glyn Simon, was dedicated on the completion of the refurbishment of the Chapel
[4th July]. |
|
1985-1990 |
Restoration under the direction of the Cathedral
Architects, Mr Robert Heaton (1977-1986) and Mr Donald Buttress (from
1986):
Cleaning and restoration of the
West Front;
Re-roofing and interior
decoration of St David Chapel;
Refurbishment and redecoration of
Lady Chapel;
Relocation of mediaeval Majestas
from West Front to St David Chapel;
Re-roofing of North Aisle;
Redecoration and refurbishment of
Processional Way;
Re-roofing of South East Aisle;
Restoration of Rossetti Tryptych
and refurbishment of St Illtyd Chapel and the
provision of new parclose screen;
Re-pointing of Lady Chapel
exterior walls and restoration of East window
stonework;
Re-roofing of Chapter House;
Extension to Prebendal House and
provision of new vestries. |
|
1991 |
Service of Thanksgiving for the restoration
work of 1985-90, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince
and Princess of Wales and Prince William of Wales [1st March]. |
|
1992 |
Recasting of the existing ring of 10 bells as a new
ring of 12 (with flat sixth semi-tone bell) by the Whitechapel Bellfoundry [Dedication Service 21st
November].
The creation of a Garden of Remembrance on the site of the crater made
by the war-time bomb with a Standing Stone in the centre commemorating
that event. |
|
1993 |
The refurbishment and refurnishing of the upper room
in the Prebendal House as
the Deans Hall. |
|
1996 |
The re-ordering of the St Teilo Chapel with the
inclusion of a reliquary to house the medieval skull of St Teilo
returned to the Cathedral in 1994. |
|
1996 |
Extensive repairs to the exterior of the Jasper
Tower (The Bell Tower) |
|
2004 |
The creation of a paved area in front of the West
Front of the Cathedral and the replacement of the post-war cobbled path
down to it from the Green by a flight of stone steps.
A system of flood-lighting was installed |
|
2007 |
The Cathedral was entirely rewired and a new and
much more dramatic and effective system of interior lighting was
installed |
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- last Updated:
09/04/2009 16:58
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