This week’s services

26th May 2021 by llandaff

The Cathedral is open for visitors!

Our opening times are:
Monday to Friday – 2pm to 4pm
Please note the Cathedral is closed on Friday 11th June due to filming
Saturday – 1pm to 4pm
Sunday – 2pm to 4pm

Sunday 13th June:
9.00am – All-age Eucharist
11.15am – Choral Eucharist
4.00pm – Choral Evensong

Thursday 17th June:
5.30pm – Choral Evensong
Social distancing measures are in place and more information about attending services in the Cathedral can be found HERE

Sunday 13th June – Second Sunday after Trinity

• You are welcome to join us for our 9am All-age Eucharist and 11.15am Eucharist this Sunday as well as Choral Evensong. You can access the Order of Service and Weekly Notes by scanning a QR code in the Cathedral. Alternatively you can download them below. You can also watch the 11.15am service and Choral Evensong as it happens below.

Weekly Notes

9.00am Order of Service

11.15am Order of Service

Choral Evensong Order of Service

Wednesday 9th June

• Thought for the Week is based on one of the day’s lectionary readings. For the Bible online, click the following link – http://bible.oremus.org/ – then choose your version (we use NRSV in church). Copy and paste the reference into the search box (Psalm 34) and the passage will be displayed.

Click here to view the text version

Tuesday 8th June

• This evening the Cathedral Chapter will hold its AGM in the Cathedral. You can watch the meeting HERE

Sunday 6th June – First Sunday after Trinity

Weekly Notes

9.00am Service Sheet

11.15am Service Sheet

Choral Evensong Order of Service

You can watch all Cathedral videos on YouTube, by clicking here

Bishop Marshall Panel returns to Llandaff

26th May 2021 by llandaff

One of the Cathedral’s greatest treasures has returned to Llandaff following six years away for restoration.

The Bishop Marshall Panel was painted in 1480 for the throne of Bishop John Marshall, Bishop of Llandaff from 1478 to his death in 1496. He is buried on the north side of the sanctuary and his will specified that a book of psalms should be chained there.

The panel is all that remains of the Bishop’s throne and is an important survival of late medieval painting. It portrays the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and features Bishop Marshall himself in the bottom right-hand corner.

In the rebuilding of the Cathedral in the 18th century the panel was re-used as part of the tester over the altar. The panel features an inscription from this time: “Part of Bishop Marshall’s Throne/ done in the year 1480 and set here/ in ye year 1736…”. In the post-1945 restoration, the panel was set in a wooden sedilia by the architect George Pace.

Of the four remaining medieval bishop’s thrones that exist in the UK, none have their painted coatings, making the Bishop Marshall Panel uniquely important. The panel was restored by Rachel Howells and it is now on the wall next to the Chapter House on the south side of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral Chapter are delighted to see it return home to Llandaff and are grateful for the funding received which enabled it to be restored. The Friends of Llandaff Cathedral committed £44,000 to the project and funding was also granted by The Leche Trust, The St Andrew’s Conservation Trust and The William & Jane Morris Fund of the Society of Antiquaries in London.

Take a look at our Peregrine Falcons!

4th February 2021 by llandaff

We are very excited to have become home to two Peregrine Falcons! The birds have attracted a lot of interest and very soon we will be installing equipment enabling us to livestream from the tower, giving us all a closer look into the lives of these fascinating birds of prey. Keep an eye on our social media pages as we prepare to launch the new webcam.

Below, Ed Drewitt, a naturalist who is working on the project, provides some information about peregrine falcons and some advice on finding them at the Cathedral!

Peregrine Falcons on Llandaff Cathedral

Llandaff Cathedral is home to one of the fastest birds in the world, the peregrine falcon. They have been here throughout 2020 and we hope that they may nest here in 2021. A nest tray has been installed in the Cathedral tower, to encourage the peregrines to nest, and to ensure that any eggs that they lay don’t roll away into the gutter.

What does a peregrine look like?

Peregrines belong to the falcon family. They are crow-size with long, pointed wings, and a sharp, hooked beak. Their wings, back, tail, and the top of their head are mainly blue-grey in colour. They have white-cream underparts with spots and fine barring. Below each eye they have a thick, dark stripe. The legs and base of the beak (known as the cere) are bright yellow. The female (or falcon) is much bigger than the male (tiercel). Young peregrines are browner on the back and head, with a streaked chest, pale yellow legs, and a blue-brown cere.

Where can you see them on the cathedral?

The peregrines are often resting on the pinnacles and gargoyles of the cathedral’s towers – particularly on the east facing pinnacles at the base of the cathedral spire. If still, they can be difficult to see. Other times they may be flying around, often circling overhead and calling. They can be quite noisy, giving out screeches and other calls.

During February and March, the breeding pair may be very visible and noisy. They can be seen circling overhead, and heard calling as part of their courtship display. Later in the year, when the young have left the nest, the whole family may be seen flying low overhead.

Eggs

Peregrines lay between one and five eggs in mid March to early April. Their nest is a small scrape on a rocky ledge or on gravel in a nest tray provided for them. The eggs are incubated mainly by the female, and during this time the male does most of the hunting.

Hatching

In late April to early May, the eggs hatch. The chicks are fed by both parents, and they stay in the nest for six weeks. Whilst they are in the nest, they make a lot of noise, and frequently flap their wings. This helps them to strengthen their wing muscles as they get ready to fly.

Leaving the nest

The chicks leave the nest after six weeks, around mid-June. They may stay in the area throughout late summer and autumn, learning how to hunt and fend for themselves. After this, they will leave and find their own nest site a year or two later. Occasionally a young bird may stay and help their parents to look after the following year’s chicks.

What do peregrines eat?

Peregrines mainly eat other birds, hunting by chasing or diving at great speeds, with their wings half folded. They can dive at speeds over 200 miles per hour, making them one of the fastest birds in the world! Sometimes peregrines hunt at night over the city, using the street lamps to help them see their prey. Once they have caught their prey, they often take it to a favoured perch on the cathedral where it is plucked and eaten. Peregrines also store food in favourite crevices on the roof known as a cache – a natural fridge! We can study the diet of the peregrines by collecting the feathers of their prey, which drift down from their plucking-posts. From these studies we know that the peregrines at Llandaff Cathedral feed on a variety of birds including feral pigeons, goldfinches, jackdaws, blackbirds – and they sometimes even catch bats.

Sometimes peregrines hunt at night over the city, using the street lamps to help them see their prey.