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BRECON CATHEDRAL: A BRIEF HISTORY
The round shape of the churchyard suggests there was a Celtic
church on this site; it would have been a wooden building, of which
nothing survives. There is little surviving evidence either of the
first stone-built church: a Benedictine priory, founded by Bernard
de Neufmarche, the Norman leader who conquered the Welsh kingdom of
Brycheiniog in 1093. The dedication to St John the Evangelist
suggests that Bernard wished it to be regarded as a new church in
order that he may be regarded as its founder; the Celtic church
would have been dedicated to a Welsh saint.
For nearly 400 years, it was a daughter monastery of Battle
Abbey in Sussex: and thus had a prior, not an abbot. Roger, a monk
of Battle was Bernards confessor. In about 1100, when he was
staying in Brecon Castle, he persuaded Bernard to grant the church
of St John the Evangelist to his Sussex abbey of St Martin. The
founding community of monks from Battle Abbey arrived from Battle
in about 1125; another monk from Battle, Walter, became the first
prior. Bernard had endowed the priory with land and churches with
their tithes in the area he had conquered, and gave it to the monks
of Battle. He and Roger built the Benedictine church and living
quarters. During the twelfth century more endowments of land and
tithes followed not only in Brecon, but also in Herefordshire.
After Bernards death, the area passed by marriage into the hands of
the hands of the Earls of Hereford. Some of them showed strong
interest in the affairs of Brecon priory and even expressed a wish
to be buried in it; thus more land and eight more churches with
their tithes were given to the monks. They were presented also with
the tithes for all the fish caught in Llangors Lake, and the right
to fish there.
Thus, by around 1215, the monastery was wealthy enough to embark
on a re-building programme in the new French Gothic style,
confusingly known in Britain as `Early English. Only a few Norman
stones were re-used. Later in the century, the same process took
place in the Augustinian abbey which is now Bristol Cathedral:
although its Norman Chapter House remains, the chancel in nave were
pulled down in order to be rebuilt in the Gothic manner,
characterized by pointed windows and arcades. Monastic quarters
were likewise extended; beneath the choir room on the east side is
a sequence of lancet windows that once lit the monks dormitory. The
extent of the monastic quarters suggests that a large community was
expected; however, there were never more than eight monks; there
were only four in 1401, and five in 1435 and 1535. Curiously, all
the monks seem to have been English.
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Re-building in Brecon began, as in Bristol, at the chancel end,
the most important part, where Mass was celebrated at the altar,
and at side altars in the transepts. As often with Benedictine
foundations, the nave became the parish church, served by its own
priest, who lived in the room above the north porch. Parishioners
shared the use of the tower in which they rang three small bells
alongside the priors two large ones. There was a considerable delay
before the nave was built: perhaps owing to Llywelyns invasion of
southern Powys. The nave and its aisles are all in the later
`Decorated style of the 14th century. The Cathedral is very
remarkable in having nothing visible that was built later, during
the final phase of English Gothic, the so-called `Perpendicular
style of the 15th century when most parish churches were built or
extended. The Perpendicular style is not found in mainland Europe:
thus we retain a French-looking church in a mid-Wales market town.
When the monastery was dissolved in 1536, under the Act of
Suppression. Its buildings and possessions became the property of
Sir John Price; the cloister garth disappeared under a tennis
court. However, sections of medieval walls and roofs survive in the
present rebuilt vestries, Deanery, Clergy House and Diocesan and
Heritage Centres.
After the Dissolution, the whole church became the parish church
of St John the Evangelist, in the diocese of St Davids; skinners,
weavers, tuckers, tailors, and shoe-makers of Brecon continued to
meet in their respective guild chapels in the aisles; these had
wooden partitions decorated with trade emblems; these guilds
represented five stages of cloth-making from local wool. They left
the badges and shields of their trades inscribed on their
tombstones (later moved by Scott, some to the west end of the nave
and to the north transept). After the formation of the Church in
Wales it became the Cathedral of the new diocese of Swansea and
Brecon on 14th September, 1923. All the external stone is local
grey and purple red sandstone from quarries in the Priory grounds.
These quarries were re-opened for the 19th century
restorations.
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THE EASTWARD VISTA AND CHANCEL
The greatest glory of the Cathedral is in the perfect simplicity
of the Early English chancel; this is a unique design in Wales;
unlike the Early English work at Llandaff, it does not derive
inspiration from the south western regional designs of Wells and
Glastonbury. The design of the triplets of pure lancet windows at
the east end is unique. On the north and south sides, deeply set
stilted slender windows rise high above the multiple shafts
clustered between them. The centre light of each triplet rise into
the vault, high above the side ones; there is no clerestory or
second level of windows to interrupt. (The nave, by contrast, has
the customary clerestory.) The bell-shaped capitals of the columns
show deliberate rejection of the standard stiff leaf foliage of the
period: this conventional motif would have interrupted the purity
of the whole
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design. The closest parallel to the design of the chancel is the
Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral, for which this may have been a
`blueprint.
The east window illustrated above is in effect, another triplet,
with two much smaller side windows, thus creating a quintuplet. Its
Victorian glass celebrates the glorious achievements of the South
Wales Borderers. In 2013, a panel of older glass thought to be from
the earlier east window, was discovered in the cellars; it depicts
St John the Evangelist, the patron saint. A moulded horizontal
string course runs below the columns and partly supports them;
without this vertical feature the chancel would lack stability. In
the early days of the 19th century Gothic Revival, an architectural
historian, Charles Parker, recorded that the design cannot be
called inferior to any Early English chancel in the United Kingdom.
The chancel has a triple sedilia (seats for the prior and monks)
and an even more rare triple piscinae, for the washing of sacred
vessels. The sedilia and piscinae are set under trefoil arches.
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Built into the north wall is a much damaged stone relief carving
of the crucifixion: a 14th century reredos which once belonged to a
narrow altar. It was found on the floor, where, presumably, it had
been placed by the agents of the monarchy or Cromwell, so that it
would be trampled on. The images Christ, the Virgin and St
John has clearly been literally de-faced. Cromwells soldiery
made a great bonfire from the medieval stalls and other
furnishings. The painting close to this stone is a good copy of
Gerrit van Honthursts The Mocking of Christ after the trial of
Jesus (Mark 14:65): Roman soldiers are binding Christ like any
other prisoner. Honthurst was a member of the Utrecht school of
painters, but lived in Italy form 1610-1620 and was strongly
influenced by Caravaggio, using chiaroscuro: here, using a candle
to cast light on figures in darkness. This painting was used as the
altar piece before the present reredos was installed.
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Archways at the west end lead to side chapels which also have
altars and originally had more; the archways have clustered and
moulded shafts to fit their use for solemn processions of monks to
the minor altars.
The chancel was re-roofed in the 15th century; this roof has
elaborately moulded timbers and floral scrollwork in green and
yellow: a fine example of Welsh carpentry. The late medieval roof
still exists above the stone vault inserted by Scott. Drawings of
the old roof can be seen in the Heritage Centre. In 2013, Richard
Suggett, working for the Royal Commission, climbed into the roof
space to photograph the painted trefoiled arcading of the medieval
roof with its carved braces. As argued below, Scott had no business
thus to cover up ancient, high quality, Welsh woodwork with a
French-style vault.
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THE NAVE
The high and wide arcades give a feeling of spaciousness. There
are four bays on the south side and three bays on the north side.
The arches on the north side carry more mouldings than the slightly
later arches on the south side: presumably an economy measure. The
highest, or clerestory windows have `Y shaped tracery,
characteristic of the 14th century, and the so-called `Decorated
style, the second period of English Gothic architecture; their
design has parallels in contemporary Herefordshire churches such as
Bromyard and Pembridge. Unusually however, the clerestory windows
are placed over the pillars instead of above the arches; the
clerestory windows have three lights on the south side but only two
on the north. Towards the west end of the south arcade there hangs
a reproduction of Raphaels `Madonna of the Goldfinch, painted in
about 1506. The infant Christ child, to the right of the Blessed
Virgin, is stroking the head of a goldfinch that the infant John
the Baptist is giving to Him. The bird is a symbol of the Passion,
because of the blood-like streaks in its feathers, and because it
feeds among thorns.
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The great west window, the west window of the south aisle and
the dormer in the north aisle were the last ones to be built; their
style is that of the late 14th century, with intersecting tracery.
For a great church, Brecon is unusual in not having a great western
processional doorway: such as exists in the much smaller church of
St David in Llywel, a few miles to the west. The west end in St
Johns seems to have been a piece-meal design: the south aisle does
not extend as far west as the nave, and the north aisle has no west
window. It is worth zooming in on the lovely little Good Shepherd
window in the top of the western gable. Masons marks on the
octagonal column nearest to the north door confirm that the
builders came from Herefordshire villages.
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.
THE FONT AND ITS SURROUNDINGS Grotesque carvings of the font
belong to the Hereford school, resembling the style of Kilpeck and
Leominster; the latter was the centre of this school of sculptors.
This is the largest Norman font in Wales dating from c.1190: its
base is late Norman or `transitional since it has Gothic pointed
arcading around the stem. The font is of a lighter stone than the
sandstone of the walls which would not have been suitable for
sculpture. The figures on the back of the font as it now stands
must have been savagely knocked away by Cromwells soldiers.
Grotesque symbolical carvings survive: a tree, a scorpion, an
eagle, and a fish between three green men; the `pagan green man
often appear on fonts; they,
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with the scorpion here may symbolize the evil that is driven out
at baptism: while the eagle and the fish are traditional symbols of
Christian salvation; the eagle is the attribute of St John the
Evangelist, our patron saint. The ambiguous tree could symbolise
mans first disobedience (eating the fruit of the forbidden tree) or
the tree of life; a sermon in stone indeed. The carvings on the
bowl are in the early Norman style; the column upon which it stands
has interlaced arches characteristic of the later Norman period. To
the south of the font is a 12th century cresset stone, the largest
such stone in Britain; its sculpted hollows held oil for thirty
flames to lighten the darkness of early morning services. It was
found in a garden nearby in the Pendre, and bought by Gwenllian
Morgan who gave it to the church. Behind the font hangs a handsome
candelabra, made in Bristol in 1722; it has 3 tiers of 7 branches;
it was originally given to St Marys church in the town by Elizabeth
Lucy.
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ST KEYNES CHAPEL (formerly the Corvizers (shoe-makers) Chapel)
While the chancel belonged to the monks, the nave belonged to the
people; it had its own nave altar in front of the choir screen.
Originally, the aisles were filled with partitioned guild chapels:
of which only the Corvizers (shoemakers) chapel survives. The
Blessed Sacrament is reserved on the credence table (a re-used
medieval foliated tomb top). The stained glass windows of the
Cathedral are all Victorian or Edwardian; the most interesting ones
are alongside and above St Keynes chapel, depicting Celtic holy men
and women who brought Christianity to this region, and sent
missionaries to England, long before St Augustine landed in Kent.
St Keyne is depicted in the end window nearest the altar of her
chapel; for a time she lived in a hermits cells in Somerset and
Cornwall, and thus gave Keynsham, near Bath, and St Keyne near
Liskeard their names; in Keynsham, as the window depicts, she
turned a plague of serpents into ammonites. Southey wrote a ballad
based on the legend that the holy well at St Keynes conferred
supremacy to the first marriage partner who tasted it (it was the
wife, who had the foresight to carry a bottle of water into
church). The other lights of this window depict St Cadoc who lived
in a monastery at Caerwent and later founded a monastery at
Llancarfon; he holds a plan of this; on the left is St Illtyd, the
most learned of all Britons; 15 churches in Wales, mostly ancient,
are dedicated to him; as are 7 in Brittany. He founded a monastery
and seat of learning at Llantwit Major; the Guinness Book of
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Records testifies that this was Britains first university. The
dormer window above is `the founders window: it depicts Brychan
himself, who founded the principality of Brecknock in the early 5th
century.
To his left is the virgin martyr St Alud; she is depicted near
her cell in the Brecon Beacons; at her feet is the stream which
gushed from the rocks on the Slwch tump at her martyrdom. To
Brychans right is St Cynog who founded nearby churches at Defynnog,
Battle and Ystradgynlais; he was killed by the Saxons near Merthyr
Cynog. Many such local saints were said to be the children and
grandchildren of Brychan who could not possibly have begat so many
illustrious descendants; it was judicious to claim kinship with the
leader of the tribe. The window beneath the dormer is the Founders
window; it commemorates significant Lords of Brecon: the earls of
Hereford were lords of Brecon until 1373: i.e. during virtually the
whole building of the medieval church which explains the dominance
of Herefordshire motifs. In the centre is Giles de Breose, Bishop
of Hereford; he holds our tower which he started (the tower was not
actually finished until 200 years later); he sent a master mason
from Hereford to oversee the building of the chancel.
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To his right is Humphrey de Bohun, during whose time the nave
was built; to his left is Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, the
last Lord of Brecknock, executed on the orders of Henry V!!! in
1521; he sponsored the building of the tower of St Marys church in
the town. The door to the right of the altar leads to the steps up
to the roof loft which used to cross the east end of the nave. The
tomb recess built into the opposite wall has ballflowers around the
ogee (flat `S shaped) arch: these date it from around 1330 when
these three-petalled flowers enclosing a ball were in fashion; the
tower of Hereford Cathedral is bespattered with them: more evidence
of Hereford masons working here. The recumbent effigy may be older
than the arch above it: it is of simpler design, lying flat on a
stone slab that does not quite fit into the recess. The identity of
the figure is unknown.
The painting over the altar is a reproduction of Raphaels
`Madonna del Granducca (so called because it was owned by the Grand
Duke of Tuscany). The high door in the south wall opens to the
steps that were used by pilgrims climbing up to cross the great
rood beam described above. The survival of such rood stairs is
quite rare. The chapel later became a national shrine for
shoe-makers; annually from 1936-1995 the British Boot and Shoe
Federation processed from the Guildhall for their service here.
Tudor style screen (pictured below) between the Chapel and the nave
includes square bosses that came from the medieval oak roof of the
chancel. . The Tudor rose is prominent; the screen was formerly
part of the chancel screen.
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The west side of the screen was carved to match, in 1963, by
Robert Thompson of Kilburn; his trade-mark mouse can be seen on the
bottom right as you enter The Chapel.
. THE NORTH AISLE The Games monument is on the right as you
leave the Chapel. Fewer than 100 wooden statues in Britain survived
being burnt at the reformation or by Cromwells soldiers; this
recumbent effigy of a female figure is one of them.
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Dating from 1555, and somewhat damaged, she was originally part
of a three-tier tomb of the Games family on the south side of the
chancel. She was probably the wife of Thomas Games; she is
fashionably dressed in a pleated skirt; a long pendant chain
carries her pomander (to disguise noxious odours). The family is
famous for its association with Agincourt, where, as Shakespeare
mentioned in `Henry V, Davy Gam Esquire was one of the few British
casualties (historically, he was leader of the Kings bodyguard,
knighted by the King on the battlefield just before his death). The
battle of Agincourt took place on St Crispins day (25 October);
almost certainly the chapel behind her was once dedicated to St
Crispin, the patron saint of shoe-makers. In the wall above the
Games effigy, there is a memorial plaque to the evangelizing
Methodist from Brecon, Dr Thomas Coke; in May 2014, a commemorative
week-end was held to mark the 200th anniversary of his tragic death
at sea. Although he worked closely with Wesley, he never formally
left the Church of England and had expressed a wish to be buried in
this Priory Church, alongside other members of his family.
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He obtained a doctorate in law at Jesus College, Oxford (the
Welsh College) and worked first as a burgess and bailiff in Brecon.
He was later ordained as an Anglican curate in South Petherton in
Somerset: but dismissed in 1777 for his Wesleyan leanings. He
returned there later and preached to about 2000 people in the open
air. He remained an Anglican priest, but joined John Wesley who
valued his gifts as an evangelical preacher, his legal mind and
skilful administration. He was appointed administrator of
Methodisms London circuit in 1780. In 1784, Wesley made him
superintendent for the work of American Methodism in the newly
independent United States. The plaque records that he crossed the
Atlantic 88 times; he presented an anti-slavery petition to George
Washington and threatened slave-owners with excommunication. He
established missionaries in Antigua and other British colonies. He
was drowned in May, 1814: leading a group of missionaries to India,
Ceylon and South Africa and his remains were committed to the great
deep, until the sea shall give up her dead. Further down the north
aisle, there is a great chest made in about 1550: it is described
by Robert Scourfield as a magnificent piece of the north European
Mannerism. The figures on the front have projecting heads: St
Barbara, the patron saint of builders is on the left, with a tower,
her emblem; behind; on the right is a Roman soldier, like Samson,
pulling down a pillar of a temple, in evident defiance of St
Barbara. A figure of Vanity, holding a mirror in one hand and a
skull in the other: All is Vanity; nothing will last forever, even
great buildings.
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THE CROSSING
The inner shafts of the arches into the nave stop above ground
level: thus to allow room for the screen between the monastic east
end and the peoples nave. The peoples altar would have stood at the
east end of the nave in front of the nave screen. In the 15th
century this became no ordinary screen; we then became known as the
Church of the Holy Rood: a gigantic gilded cross hung to the west
of the tower; as described in 15th century Welsh poems, the Rood
beam displayed symbols of the four evangelists; then smaller
carvings of the two thieves, as well as the larger figures of St
John and the Virgin Mary on either side of the huge central figure
of Christ on the Cross. The rood screen
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would have been would have dominated the church, with its
painted figures gleaming in the light from the clerestory and from
candles. It was customary to keep a lamp burning before the rood.
Its reputation for miracles of healing made the rood famous
throughout Wales and the Marches, and drew pilgrims from great
distances. Doors high in the wall on the north and south side show
where there was a gallery or rood loft, crossed by pilgrims; in the
centre, they would touch the feet of Christ on the hanging rood,
and be cured. They would have left by the door on the south side
and come down the existing steps within the thickness of the wall
of the south aisle; the door from these steps can be seen in the
first bay of the south arcade. Pilgrims would then have proceeded
down the south aisle to the pilgrims dormitory; from its now
blocked long squint, they would have had a view of the golden rood.
The slanted corbel stones high in the wall show where there was a
canopy or celure over the Rood; the lower corbels must have
supported a great beam upon which the carved figures stood (but not
the hanging figure of Christ whose feet must have been within in
reach of pilgrims). The dormer window in the north aisle may have
been inserted to throw light on the Rood. The diagram on the next
page, drawn by Gwynne-Jones reconstructs the overall
arrangement:
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The Rood and screen were destroyed at the Reformation; fragments
of delicate carving from one of the screens were built into the
present pulpit; at the base of the pulpit are angels that used to
support the wooden roof of the chancel.
The loss of the golden rood as of the choir stalls and all other
medieval fittings, reminds us of the devastation of a vast amount
of medieval art under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, and
Cromwell: and the shock that was experienced by the parishioners
who found their familiar church denuded of all its meaningful
decoration. Protestant hatred of idolatry was enforced with
hatchets, hammers and white-wash brushes, wielded by zealots intent
on eradicating every image of the Godhead, Christ and saints; in
those years of pious barbarism, most of the art of medieval Britain
were swept into oblivion. Books were burned, statues were smashed,
frescoes were obliterated by whitewash. Shrines of saints and
chantry chapels were removed. As one Anglesey bard put it: cold in
our time as the grey ice are our churches. was it not sad, in a day
or two, to throw down the altars! Instead of the altar, a solitary
trestle. Churches became preaching boxes, no longer centred on the
mystery of the Mass. Thanks to the initiative of the Dean, Geoffrey
Marshall, a new rood cross was installed at Christmas, 2012. The
new one is the work of Helen Sinclair; she sculpted it out of a
piece of driftwood found on Rhossili beach, and then cast in
bronze. It was commissioned by a lawyer, Anthony Bunker, to
celebrate his wifes ordination to the Anglican priesthood. It had
been exhibited widely throughout the United Kingdom during the
year, and had been displayed in Brecon Cathedral at Easter. Anthony
Bunker and his wife decided that it was far too beautiful to be
kept to themselves; on hearing this, the Dean promptly suggested
that it should come to Brecon, to replace the rood that had been
destroyed at the Reformation. It is 6 foot 5 inches high but
slender enough not to block the eastward vista; it colour
harmonizes with the colour of the stone walls. In winter, when the
sun is low, it catches the light magically; so, as Sunday
communicants file under it to receive the bread and the wine, the
body and blood of Christ, they are reminded of Christs ultimate
sacrifice made for our redemption. It is a great aid to
worship.
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Before the Reformation, the walls would have been filled with
colourful paintings; the only murals now are the damaged ones
beneath the western tower arches. These early 17th century plaster
paintings depict: on the north side, behind the pulpits, a black
eagle: derived from the seal of the Priory, and the symbol of St
John the Evangelist; on the south side is a mantle of estate, the
traditional coat of arms of the borough of Brecon.
Between the nave and the chancel is the wooden roof beneath the
great tower. Springers in each top corner of the crossing indicate
that a stone vault was originally intended here, as in the chancel.
The top of the south eastern pier
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bears a time-worn human face mask: oddly the only medieval
representation of a human face in the original building: all the
other piers are topped with flowers or leaves.
In the walls above the ceiling of the crossing 13th century
windows from the tower gallery let some light into the gallery, and
provided surveillance of the church from above. Seen from outside,
the tower, grand and plain, gives a castle-like appearance. The
panoramic view from the top made it the perfect look-out tower over
unsettled border roads and tracks below.
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THE NORTH TRANSEPT
The transepts belong to the same Early English building period
as the chancel, with similar slender lancet groups: but simpler,
without the same depth. The North transept used to be known as the
Battle Chapel, having previously been reserved for the inhabitants
of the nearby settlement of Battle. It has a fine pair of arches
separating it from the Havard chapel to the east. On the floor here
are sepulchral slabs incised with crosses and trade emblems. Such
gravestones were moved by Gilbert Scott from their original
positions in the guild chapels which once occupied the aisles. The
pattern of these foliated crosses was a speciality of local masons,
symbolically showing the flowering life new life arising for the
dead, as trees that look dead in winter come to life in the spring.
More is said about these carvings in the next section. On the west
wall of this transept, there is a series of white marble tablets in
memory of members of the Watkins family of Penoyre House (which
still exists a mile to the west). These are some of the finest work
of the Brecon-born sculptor, John Evan Thomas; Thomas sculpted the
statue of Wellington in the Bulwark; his other work includes the
statue of Prince Albert in Tenby and several statures in the Houses
of Parliament in London.
The 18th century organ, made by the firm of Henry Bevington, is
moved around to make way for exhibitions: but it is usually on the
east side of the transept; in 1923, it was given by Bishop Bevan
from the family home in Hereford. Francis
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Kilverts diary for May 7th, 1872 describes a house party in Hay
Castle, then occupied by the Bevans: All the young people, Bevans
and Thomases and Lucy Allen gathered round the organ in the Castle
hall and sung `Pilgrims of the Night and some other beautiful hymns
. The Kilvert Society contributed to the restoration of the organ
in 1972. The organ case dates from the mid 19thcentury.
The main organ was built in 1886 by William Hill & Sons; it
was rebuilt in1931, 1973 and 1995 when an impressive fanfare
trumpet was added. In 2006, six New digital stops were
installed.
. A major appeal launched in 2003 secured the future of choral
music in the Cathedral. The choir room is at the top of the stable
block of the former Tower House next door. Its early 17th century
timber roof trusses are intact.
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THE VANISHED MEMORIALS
In 1925, another great Breconshire historian, Gwellian Morgan,
the first Lady Mayor of Brecon and the first Friend of the
Cathedral, published a monograph on the vanished tombs of the
Cathedral. Until the 19th century, most citizens of note were
buried within the walls of the church. Before the Reformation,
effigies were laid on their backs (epitomized by the Awbrey tomb in
the Havard Chapel) Hands were usually clasped in prayer for eternal
life. After the Reformation, figures began to kneel or stand. There
was often a fulsome curriculum vitae carved in to give the reasons
why the deceased should be eligible for a place in Heaven. In the
early 17th century, there were 16 life-size effigies in plaster,
wood or stone. Before the Reformation, there was only one interment
within the chancel, although elsewhere, priests were buried there.
This one interment was that of Reginald de Breose, Lord of
Brecknock, one of the early sponsors of the building. Parishioners
were buried in the nave and side chapels; monks had their own
cemetery to the east of the church and priors would have been
buried in the vanished Chapter House, of which there is also no
trace. Various travellers down the ages recorded monuments within
the building: Thomas Churchyarde listed some of them in verse in
1587; lists were compiled by Richard Symonds in 1645 and Thomas
Dineley in 1684. Theophilus Jones published a long list in his
`History of the County of Brecknock in 1809; this list was much
extended by Sir Joseph Russell Bailey in revised edition of Joness
history of the County. The list takes fills over 40 pages of very
small print. Only a fraction of the memorials therein listed can be
traced today. By the time Jones and Bailey compiled their lists,
interments of the 18th century had replaced many earlier stones.
Early 18th century stones are notable for their fine raised
lettering. Brecon had the peculiar practice of inserting strips of
white marble to record later burials over re-used grave plots.
During the 1860s and 1870s, Gilbert Scott lifted all the
gravestones in order to lay a waterproof cement floor. Many
gravestones were moved to the churchyard, or re-used randomly about
the building: so that no body lies beneath the stone bearing his or
her name. Scott re-used burial slabs for roof gutters, window-sills
and staircases: including the staircase to the organ loft; a
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childs coffin lid was re-used for the credence table in St
Keynes Chapel. Among the lost memorials is that to Hugh Price, the
founder of Jesus College, Oxford, long regarded as `the Welsh
College. The churchyard itself was lowered and levelled in 1896, so
that there also, skeletons are not under the stones that
commemorate them. The churchyard was closed in 1858; by then it was
seriously over-crowded; in the 1830s and 1840s there had been an
average of over 100 burials each year. After 1858, interments were
made in the cemetery down the road: except for some of those
families who already had brick-lined graves in the churchyard;
Bishops later had their own burial ground established on the south
side of the church.
Within the church, there are few plain gravestones: the fashion
for foliated crosses, regarded as the Cross of Glory, adorned with
garlands, seems to have been initiated by a Brecon school of masons
in the early 17th century; their design symbolises the branching of
new life after death. Similar foliated crosses are found throughout
mid- and south Wales, and in bordering English counties: the
earliest of these, for example in Llywel and Llanhamlach, must have
been carved by the same masons. Brecon Cathedral still has the
finest collection of these tombs. Foliated crosses are common in
England: but not with the densely packed leaves that characterize
the Brecon style. A few tombstones bear the `IHS Christogram which
suggest evidence of `closet Catholics in Brecon; the Chistogram is
a shortened version of the name of Jesus in Greek script. This
Christogram had been adopted by St Ignatius for the Jesuit
movement; the Jesuit Christogram also bore at its centre three
nails to represent the Crucifixion, and sometimes a pierced heart,
with the whole surrounded by a sunburst. It is surprising to find,
at the west end of the Havard Chapel and in the north side of St
Keynes Chapel, this `Popish emblem in post-Reformation Britain.
There is a well restored slab bearing the `IHS carving, now in the
Heritage Centre. Back in the north transept, there is a memorial to
John Taylor who died in 1618. That he was a tailor by profession as
well as by name, is illustrated by the carving of pair of scissors
on one side of the cross, with an iron on the other side; at the
base of the stone, there is a carving of the Agnus Dei, the
sacrificial Lamb of God bearing the banner of Resurrection: another
`Popish emblem.
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Toleration of `Popish emblems in an Anglican church can be
explained by the presence of powerful Catholic families in the
area, particularly the Herberts and the Gunters. The Gunters of
Abergavenny had a `secret chapel in the attic of their mansion
there; this chapel was in fact semi-public. Missionary Jesuit
priests, including local recusants like David Lewis, ministered to
the Catholics of the surrounding area: allegedly drawing a larger
attendance than the Priory Church up the road. St David Lewis the
last Welsh martyr, was hanged in 1679. St David Lewis had been born
in Abergavenny; he became a Jesuit after being trained and priested
in Rome. He was twice Superior to the illegal Jesuit College that
had been founded at the Cwm on the borders of Monmouthshire
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and Hereford. The Cwm, well hidden up a remote valley, consisted
of several spacious houses; they had many entrances and extensive
cellars; a tunnel ran into neighbouring woods where there were many
caves: ideal hiding places for priests who travelled dangerously,
in disguise, by night to say Mass in remote Catholic households.
The arrival of a priest would be a day of great rejoicing. There
remained a cluster of Catholics in the Senni valley which became
known as `the Roman dingle, under the influence of the Havard
family. Figures reported to the House of Lords committee in 1680,
recorded 50 Catholics in Defynnog: out of a total of 250 in all
Breconshire.
Three other locally born priests who were hanged, drawn and
quartered for their faith were later beatified by the Pope: Philip
Powell from Trallong, John Lloyd and Philip Evans from Brecon. For
52 years, Mary and Margaret Thomas, members of a Catholic family
gave shelter to priests in their house near the Watergate in
Brecon.
The installation of the rood in 2012 was the culmination of the
process whereby we have by stages got back what had been lost; the
chancel and high altar, still disused in early Victorian times, are
again graced with a fine reredos; we now receive Communion in two
kinds; we have the Reservation; we have sung Eucharist, incense,
prayers for the dead, invocation to saints; there is an icon of the
Blessed Virgin, beneath which we can light candles and say prayers
for the sick and the dead; and more opportunities than ever to go
on pilgrimages.
THE HAVARD CHAPEL This eastern chapel was built in the mid 14th
century, as was the corresponding, smaller St Lawrence Chapel
extending from the south transept. These eastern chapels completed
the form of the Church which has since had no basic structural
addition: no Perpendicular additions. The Havard Chapel is so
called because it was built on land owned by the Havard family, as
their chantry chapel; the first Havards came with the Norman
leader, Bernard de Neufmarche in 1093; there are still many Havards
in mid-and South Wales (the phone book lists a dozen Havard
families in the Brecon area, a dozen in the Swansea area and eight
in Cardiff.) Curiously, only two remnants of early Havard memorials
survive here, both in obscure locations: virtually inaccessible; a
wall monument behind the altar bears the Havard crest of bulls
heads, in memory of R.H., undated. The bulls also appear on a
foliated memorial on the floor half way down the north side,
between the wall and the pew ends. This is in memory of Lewis
Havard, dated 1569. By that date, their chantry chapel must have
been closed by the Protestant reformers: which may be one reason
why the family became Roman Catholics.
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Below the photograph is Theophilus Joness drawing made of the
tomb when the inscription was fully legible: Hic supultus est
Lodovicus Havarde genitosus qui obit octo decimo die mensis
Octobris 1569 cujus anime propititietur Deus.- Lewis Havarde
gentleman is buried here who died on the eighteenth day of October
1569 upon whose soul may God have mercy The profile of the medieval
double-gabled roof high on the west wall show that this area used
to be two chapels: perhaps the Lady Chapel in its traditional
position, and the Havard Chapel. After the Reformation, it seems to
have been called the Vicars Chapel.
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. The chapels were combined into one in the 18th century, when
wooden windows were inserted on the north side. In 1922 Sir Charles
Nicholson formed here the memorial chapel of the 24th Regiment, the
South Wales Borderers who for many years had their garrison in the
Watton. (The number 24 proliferates round the chapel). The initial
impulse, as recorded on the elegant memorial tablet was to honour
the 5,466 offices and men from the Regiment who fell in the First
World War; the actual figure was later estimated to be 5,777. Many
visitors come to see the military memorials; and especially to see
the of the Wreath of the Immortelles, everlasting flowers,
presented to the
Regiment after the Battle of Iswandhlwana in the Zulu wars.
Following the ensuing Battle of Rorkes drift, Queen Victoria
presented the Regiment with nine Victoria crosses: the most ever
given at any one time. Only ten out of nearly 600 men from the
Regiment survived the Battle of Iswandhlwana, where they were
outnumbered by ten to one. On either side of the chapel hang the
Queens colours of the ten battalions belonging to the Regiment. The
Regiment is remarkable for valiant service all over the globe;
during the Peninsular War, it won unusual praise from Wellington:
in my life, I never saw such an attack as was made by General
Barnes brigade upon the enemy above Eschalar. It is
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31
impossible that I could extol too highly the conduct of General
Barnes and these brave troops. Wellington was not given to such
fulsome words; he, in turn, was admired in Brecon: hence his statue
in the Bulwark. There is a separate leaflet giving further details
about the memorials.
The chapel has also the extremely rare survival of much-restored
pre-reformation houseling benches in front of the altar.
Parishioners would have stood before these benches (once higher and
in the main nave) to receive the Sacrament.
In the north east corner of the chapel is the oldest tomb in the
Cathedral, dated at 1312: the effigies of Walter and Christina
Awbrey of Abercynrig; between their heads is a small rood. This is
the earliest husband and wife monument in Wales. In the opposite
corner there is a hagioscope or squint which would have enabled the
monk at the altar of a side chantry chapel to synchronize his
celebration of the Mass with that of the Prior at the High Altar.
The surrounding elaborate archway is again covered in ballflowers:
more Hereford work of around 1330. In 1809, Theophilus Jones
recorded a wall monument here, similar in style and date to that in
St Keynes Chapel, also with an effigy in stone.
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Each window on the south side depicts a patron saint of the
United Kingdom: SS George, David, Patrick and Andrew. All the
windows in the Chapel are the work of James Powell and Sons of
Whitefriars; the east window which depicts the Annunciation is
their masterpiece.
There is a separate leaflet giving details of the windows in the
Cathedral. The altar piece is an original painting of the Baptism
of Christ, the work of an early Baroque master, Alessando Albini
from Bologna. The beautifully carved `English altar is
characteristic of the work of Sir Charles Nicholson, under the
influence of the Anglo-Catholic Percy Dearman and Ninian Comper who
made this design fashionable.
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These are not really `English altars, but Renaissance Catholic
ones; European painters of the 16th century show no other form of
altar, with riddle posts and curtains; this design had been used in
side chapels, but Percy Dearmer had the high altar of his church of
St Mary, Primrose Hill, soon after his installation as vicar in
1901. Sir Ninian Comper went on to install them in the churches he
designed or restored, including St Marys, Wellingborough, Wymondham
Abbey, and St Cyprians. Clarence Gate and Ripon Cathedral
(illustrated below)
. The pew-ends carry carvings to commemorate the service of the
Regiment all over the world. The pews themselves were designed and
fitted by Alban Caroe in 1959, in the light limed wood, as patented
by by his father, W.D. Caroe.
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THE SOUTH TRANSEPT
Through the arch to the south side of the chancel, there hangs
on the west wall one version of the famous painting of 1896:
`Peace, by William Strutt (the wolf will live with the lamb, the
leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the
yearling together; and a little child will lead them ... -[Isaiah
11:6,7]). Below it is the Llewellyn cupboard: it was made up in the
17th century but decorated with earlier Flemish panels of about
1500, on the front. The panels came from Neath Abbey. They depict
the Circumcision, the Flight into Egypt and the Adoration of the
Magi: wonderfully detailed. Simpler panels below, probably by a
different hand, depict the Coronation of the Virgin and a
Pieta.
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Behind, is the bronze effigy of our first Bishop, Edward Bevan
who gave much of his personal fortune to the Cathedral from helping
to buy up surrounding buildings in the Close, to providing electric
lighting. The Cathedral still depends on his financial legacy. The
effigy is by Goscomb John.
Behind the first pillar is Brian Bessants Byzantine-style icon
of the Virgin:
See the later section under CAROE for details of the St Lawrence
chapel in the south west corner.
This transept used to be known as the Chapel of the Red-Haired
Men and was the burial place for Norman families; what is seen now
is a jumble of randomly
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re-laid dark floor slabs which contrast with the stately marble
18th and early 19th century wall memorials.
In the south-west corner is an archway leading to the newel
stairs originally leading up to the monks dormitory, and still
leading up to the tower, and a maze of passages and galleries. The
wall-walk that would have been used by monks coming down from the
dormitory for pre-dawn services can be seen at first floor level.
Corbels in the top corner over the door must have supported a
gallery. It seems likely that this was the original position of the
cresset stone, so placed, it would have shed some light on the
night stair, through an open door, and simultaneously on the wall
walk. Candles would have perpetually been alight before the altar.
At the end of the west wall is a somewhat sentimental monument
designed by Flaxman: one figure holding a large cross over another
in deep mourning; there are two severely classical monuments
designed by Thomas Paty : one with a broken pediment and pilasters,
in the style one would expect from the firm which built much of
Georgian Bristol.
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Near the south-east corner is a recess with 13th century
mouldings: it used to contain a piscina for a side chapel; the
piscina is now in the St Lawrence Chapel further to the east. In
the south-east corner there is a late medieval quarter-circle oak
cope chest of some rarity. Other such chests for the storing of
vestments are found only in major churches such as York, Salisbury,
Wells and Tewkesbury. The roof here, as elsewhere, was re-built by
Scott in a utilitarian manner; the wood supports seem to be too
thin, and too closely clustered.
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THE SOUTH AISLE
This aisle is an almost total re-building of what Scott found in
a ruinous state.
Only the archway from the transept is still pure Early English
with moulded arches. On the right of the archway are memorials to
the Maund family; John Maund is the first Brecon-born architect
known by name; in 1805 he designed the arsenal of the Barracks in
the Watton, now the military Museum. There is no record of what
Andrew designed, but the monument suggests a man of some standing
in the town.
The refectory tables under the south wall are good examples of
local carpentry. At the west end of the south aisle is a ver fine
alabaster memorial to Sir David Williams of Gwernyfed, near
Glasbury where his splendid Jacobean house still stands.
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39
He became Justice of the Court of Kings bench as well as being
recorder and M.P. for Brecon. He died in 1613; his judges ermine
robes shine now, as if he has been stroked by venerating pilgrims.
Traces of red pigment show that his robes were originally painted.
The folds of his legal gown above his feet seem an impossible
achievement of sculpturing in hard alabaster. He must have paid
heavily to have a memorial in the chancel (where it obscured the
sedilia); in 1862 Scott dismantled the canopied tomb and moved it
to the Havard Chapel. When that became the Borderers Memorial
Chapel, Caroe moved it to its present position. The surviving
Corinthian capitals lying around the tomb suggest what the original
canopy on pillars would have looked like; Caroe was not allowed
funds to reconstruct the canopy which Scott had dismantled. Thus,
having paid to be buried up at the holy end, Williams ended up at
the least holy part of the building. Aesthetically, the removal of
the monument was no bad thing: the chancel must have been extremely
cluttered, with the stack of Games effigies filling the north side,
the Williams effigy filling the south side, among memorials to
other local gentry. The Williams memorial plaque is in Latin.
However, nearly all the memorials within the Cathedral and in the
churchyard are in English not Latin or Welsh. Brecon is just on the
language border: ten miles to the west in Sennybridge (Pont Senni),
Welsh is commonly spoken; you dont hear it much in Brecon.
VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN RESTORATION
1.GILBERT SCOTT
The present internal appearance of the Cathedral is largely
owing to Gilbert Scott; it is not at all as the medieval builders
left it. During the 18th century, St Johns like most churches
suffered from grievous neglect. Lead had been stripped from the
nave roof: so that a woman, and later a boy hunting bats, fell
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40
through the rotten timbers. Owls, bats and jackdaws nested in
roofs and had ready access into the church. Stones from the
monastery building became a useful quarry for house-building. The
church walls on the south were invisible under the ivy; windows had
been boarded up. A convenient sandstone statue, thought to depict
Brychan, was in general use for sharpening knives (a remnant of
this is in the Heritage Centre). Purbeck marble columns were found
to be helpful in timber-rolling. By the mid 19th century, the
relative comfort of dissenting chapels lured the congregation away
from the extreme dampness and cold of the church; conditions there,
according to the curate, endangered the health of the venturesome
few remaining adherents of the established church. Moreover, the
Welsh Methodist movement was so strong, that by the middle of the
19th century, Wales, which had resisted the Protestant Reformation,
had become effectively a Nonconformist country. The then vicar of
Brecon, Rev. Garnon-Williams, summed it up thus: anything more
melancholy than the state of the church before restoration could
scarcely be conceived. Fortunately, at this time, the impulse of
the Oxford Movement led by Newman, Pusey and Keble, with Gothic
Revival architects, led by Pugin revived interest in solemn
liturgical worship. Celebration of the Eucharist became at least a
weekly rather than an occasional event.
In 1860 a public meeting was held in the Shire Hall to consider
the restoration of the Priory Church. Lord Camden promised to pay
for the restoration of the chancel; a public fund was set up to pay
for the restoration of the nave. Gilbert Scott was to be employed;
he submitted his report in November of that year, repeating the
vicars judgement that the present state of this noble structure is
melancholy in the extreme. The restoration of the chancel, tower,
transepts and Havard chapel was completed by 1862. His first report
stated that the great object of restoration work was conservation;
he said that he would reject all conjectural work and return it to
its 14th century appearance: we do not wish to smarten it up and
make it look like a new church; we wish to hand it down to future
generations as a genuine work of ancient art. The less of new work
we have to insert the better. His work may be judged by his own
criteria. He proceeded to build a brand new vault of yellow, not
local purple stone, over the chancel. His argument was that the
springers for an intended vault existed in the 13th century walls
(as they still exist over the crossing). Robert Scourfields close
examination of the vault-shafts revealed that these springers were
after-thoughts, cutting across the heads of the adjacent lancets.
Scotts new vault is impressive, and would grace a London Tube
station; here, it conceals the fine 15th century carved wooden roof
which still exists above his vault; he should have restored it,
according to his own tenets. In 1853, Dr
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Freeman, writing in `Archaeologia Cambrensis admired the
decorative wooden roof which had clearly been designed to last, not
to be a substitute for the intended vault. In 2012, Richard
Suggett, for the Royal Commission, entered the roof space to
photograph the original painted and finely carved roof; his images
correspond to drawings made of the roof before Scotts intervention.
Moreover, Scotts vault is in the French style, in which the stones
lie straight east to west, instead of radiating from the centre in
the English/Welsh manner; there is no central ridge rib. The
conjectural vault obviously means that the chancel is much lower
than that of the original church. The ribs of the vault upset the
purity of the Early English lancets below. Scott restored the
transept walls to their original pitch and gave them conventional
timber roofs. He re-laid all the floors on a bed of concrete, to
prevent rising damp; the transepts had previously just had floors
of bare earth like a barn, except for stone monuments. All the
ancient floor monuments from the chancel and transepts were dug up;
some were re-laid where they would best fit on the concrete bed;
many were removed to the west end of the Church. As mentioned
above, few of the 700 epitaphs recorded by Thomas Dineley during
his visit with the Duke of Beaufort in 1684 were salvaged; Scott
ejected four white marble slabs in memory of Thomas Cokes father
and his two wives, as well as a fine tablet by J.E. Thomas to Dr
Coke himself; this was found lying on the floor, and was moved to
Wesleyan Chapel in the town. (Dr Cokes Chapel was was demolished in
the 1990s and the tablet, it seems, went with it: such homage did
Brecon pay to its most famous pastor and sculptor). Scott likewise
threw out our now famous cresset stone which was later dug up in a
local garden. Over the concrete in the chancel, Scott laid Godwins
encaustic tiles, made at Lugwardine, such as the Marquis of Camden
had admired in the newly restored Hereford Cathedral. The pattern
of the tiles was in every instance taken from the originals in
Hereford. An anonymous layman furnished the choir with stalls for
12 canons. Scott scraped all the lime wash from the walls of the
nave (he was known as `the great scraper): so the church is much
darker than the medieval church (which would have had less stained
glass). He restored the lost mullions and tracery of the Havard
chapel, on the model of those in the aisles. In the 18th century,
the original low twin gabled roofs had been replaced by a lean-to
roof which blocked part of the glorious chancel windows. Instead of
re-instating the medieval design as he had promised, Scott also
gave the Chapel only one high gable. The original low gabled roofs
rested below the chancel windows, allowing light to flood in over
the top of the Havard chapel. As can be seen in the top part of the
south east corner of the chapel, Scott retained and extended the
solid wall between the Chapel and the chancel: thereby
insensitively blocking for good some of the Early English lancet
windows on the
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42
north side, as well as removing all the wall monuments. As early
as 1809, Theophilus Jones had condemned the villainous lean-to of
the Havard Chapel... of comparatively late erection. Scott had the
tomb of Sir David Williams dismantled and moved from the chancel to
the Havard chapel thus revealing the sedilia and piscinae. However,
he did not replace the pillared canopy over the Williams monument;
Corinthian capitals still lying about the tomb indicate how it used
to look. As the later Garnons-Williams, also the Vicar of Brecon,
pointed out, Scott failed to provide an adequate central focus: the
new altar table is scarcely large and prominent enough for its
exalted position and unworthy of the spacious and dignified
chancel. In the early 20th century, Rev. Percy Dearmer wrote: It is
a melancholy reflection that the men who sought most devotedly to
restore our English churches to their pristine glory were the very
men who, in the end, completed the destruction of their character.
Worst of all, the central feature of the church, the altar, was
distorted out of all knowledge.
1874, parishioners, had raised sufficient funds for the
restoration of the nave and aisles; this campaign was led by next
vicar, the indefatiguable Prebendary Herbert Williams and a layman,
Richard Cobb. The stained glass of the great west window is a
fitting memorial to Herbert Williams. Cobb has an equally fitting
wall memorial recess close to the lectern, and another in the
lychgate which his family built
.
Scott was recalled; he found the nave a mass of deformity and
proceeded to set his own stamp on it; he completed his work in
1874-5. This involved a re-ordering of the church in line with the
liturgy of the Oxford Movement: so that the focus would be the
altar, not the pulpit. High-backed box pews, raised on another
floor of wood, were removed; the floor was lowered by three feet,
to reveal the bases of the columns, and to ensure that the
congregation had to look up to the High Altar in the approved way.
He removed former partitions including the 16th century wooden
screen across the entrance to the chancel. He moved this to screen
the Havard Chapel; later, a section of it was moved
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43
again to form the present screen of St Keynes chapel. He took
away a glass partition that had been inserted by Henry Wyatt in
1836 at the end of the nave, to render the nave habitable. He also
removed the early c19 century gallery that Wyatt had erected across
the south transept: so that now the church was open to view from
west to east and from north to south. It was fundamental to the
Oxford Movement that nothing should come between the eye of the
worshipper and the altar. In the 18th and early 19th century, the
eyes of the congregation had been focussed on the pulpit.
The side windows of the Havard Chapel and of the south aisle are
all his, based in style on those of the north aisle; the south side
wall had formerly been a solid wall, in order to support the monks
cloister on the outer side. Scott removed a late 18th century
plaster ceiling from the nave, and restored the late 16th century
rotten timber roof above with such improvements as may suggest
themselves. (i.e. it was `Gothicized by the introduction of trefoil
pointed arches).
Scott failed to stabilize the tower which was on the verge of
collapse by 1914. He Scott placed an Early English 13th century
style inner doorway into the 14th century porch. Finally, he
lowered the churchyard which had been raised to window level by
great numbers of burials on top of each other. He renewed the walls
of the churchyard and fitted a new gate. Unlike W.D. Caroe, Scott
did not
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spend much time in Brecon and the restoration was left to his
clerk of works. It was thus in St Marys Priory Church in
Abergavenny: Scott drew designs for its nave and west end, but left
Thomas Nicholson of Hereford in charge of the actual building.
Scott had recommended our Church of St John the Evangelist in
Brecon to the Cathedral Commissioners as most worthy to be the
Cathedral for the proposed the new diocese of central Wales:
however, this did not come about for another 50 years. Far from
fulfilling his promise to restore the Church to its 14th century
appearance, Scott left what looked like a Victorian church; it
could be argued that over-eager Victorian restorers did nearly as
much damage to the fabric of medieval churches as did Henry VIII
and Cromwell.
2. THE CAROE DYNASTY
W.D. Caroe, having already worked on the Church, become the
first Cathedral architect from 1923 until his death in 1938; he was
succeeded by his son, Alban Caroe; Alban in turn was succeeded by
Martin Caroe who died in 1999. W.D. Caroe has been educated in
Wales and was much more sensitive than Scott to local styles; in
1908, he had found the Church of St Issui at Partrishow on the
verge of collapse. His restoration of its now famous screen was so
good that the untrained eye cannot distinguish the original from
Caroes insertions. Caroe spent much time investigating the early
history of St Johns in close detail and published learned articles
about it in Archaeologia Cambrensis. In 1931, he lectured to the
Friends of the Cathedral on its architectural history. Meanwhile,
he built a new church at Llangammarch Wells, and restored many
other Welsh churches. He and was architect to numerous
ecclesiastical buildings including the Cathedrals of St Davids and
Durham and the abbeys of Tewkesbury and Romsey. As architect to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners based in London, he had pervasive
influence for sensitive restoration.
Cathedral status gave the impulse for further restoration and
re-ordering.
Caroe rebuilt the ruinous south west chapel, dedicated to St
Lawrence; he
fitted the oak reredos. He designed the doorway with its
Caernarvon arch from
the Chapel to the sacristry. His carved oak reredos was a
memorial to Wilfred
de Winton who largely paid for the Chapel; the scene depicted in
the reredos
has been variously interpreted: as Christ casting out the
money-lenders from
the Temple; or as Christ, rising from the Tomb, telling the holy
women not to
touch him: `Noli Me Tangere. The pews of light limed oak with
delicately
carved tops are a hallmark of Caroes work. The east window of
the St
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Lawrence Chapel, designed by Powells depicts the Adoration of
the Magi; the
window was given by Sir Walter Vaughan Morgan in memory of his
parents. He
was the only Breconshire man to have become Lord Mayor of
London. The
kneeling figure on the right is probably a portrait of Sir
Walter: this being the
traditional placing of donors in medieval windows.He looks
distinctly
Edwardian. The window frame and mullions are older, having been
moved from
the south transept.
Caroes vault in the St Lawrence Chapel is designed in the Early
English manner, using local sandstone in radiating blocks (unlike
Scotts yellow stone, French-style chancel vault.) The two-light
window to the south records that the Chapel was built for the
Church of England Mens Society, in memory of Bishop Bevan who had
been chairman of that Society; since 1993, it has been the chapel
of the Mothers Union.... In Victorian times, St Keynes Chapel had
been fitted out for the private devotions of women. The segregation
of the sexes in opposite sides of the church was to prevent members
of the congregation from using the services for courtship: then,
the church was the only public place where you could guarantee
seeing respectable members of the opposite sex; a poem of Thomas
Hardy records how his mother was attracted by his father in
Stinsford Church:
She turned again; and in her prides despite One strenuous viols
inspirer, seemed to throw A message from his string to her below,
Which said, `I claim thee as my own forthright! Thus their hearts
bond began...
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Caroe rebuilt the tower which Scott had neglected; he found it
riddled with passages and stairways; moreover, the south wall had
separated itself from the rest; unfortunately, his elaborate scheme
for `stitching interior walls with concrete beams to hold the walls
together did not last. This failure, and Scotts neglect, rebounded
on the Caroe firm at the end of the 20th century when again the
tower defeated them and the job was handed over to Dr Worsley of
Dolgellau, as the new Cathedral architect. Anyone who stands on the
top of the tower in a high wind must wonder however it stays up at
all, especially when all ten bells are being rung. Caroe
successfully reconstructed Scotts nave roof; Scott had used sap
wood which had perished in places. Scotts guttering from the nave
parapet also failed, saturating the walls. Caroe put in a new
parapet gutter, gargoyles and fine lead rainwater heads: the latter
being another of his hall-marks. Thus the nave roof had to be
stripped again, and tiles re-laid. In 1931, Caroe designed the loft
and case for the superb William Hill organ. This involved inserting
concrete-cased steel girders. The organ console was moved down to
its present position at ground level by Alban Caroe: thus making it
easier for the then organist and choirmaster to control the
choirboys without having to hurl hymn books at them from the organ
loft as, allegedly, had happened. Subsequently, the organ was
re-built, again restored and extended in 1973, 1995 and 2006).
Caroe re-floored and re-furbished the former priests room over the
north porch as a muniment room for storage of archives and musical
scores; many other details are his, visible and invisible,
including the sturdy oak stand for the cresset stone.
In 1925, properties on the monastic site to the south and east
of the Church came back into its possession. Caroe immediately
started work fashioning the grounds and buildings into a worthy
setting for the Cathedral: so that Brecon became the only cathedral
in Wales to have a distinct Close of its own. (The houses round
Llandaff Green are mostly occupied by the laity and the Green
itself belongs to Cardiff City Council). Ingeniously, Caroe turned
the then ruinous Tower House stables into vestries, with a top-lit
choir room above. He retained, under the stairs, what was left of
the Tower House stables, and built in capacious limed oak
cupboards. He rebuilt the ruinous tower, and carefully restored on
the east side of the second floor a 14th century window, with
cusped tracery. Beyond that, to the south, partly on the site of
the Abbots Hall, Caroe re-built the Canonry, now the Deanery; he
retained the mullioned and transomed windows that had belonged to
the secular house built here in the late 17th century. It is a
tribute to Caroes sensitivity that no-one passing can easily tell
which are the original 17th century windows and which windows were
inserted by Caroe to suit the new internal arrangements.
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He turned the service wing of the Priory House into the present
Clergy House, now the home of the Minor Canon. The Priory House
itself had been the home of the de Winton family; Wilfred de Winton
was a prominent lay churchman who wanted to return the former
priory buildings to the Church. He paid largely to the conversion
of his house into a Deanery and Chapter House; the latter included
the Library, to which he donated books and engravings. In 1983,
this Deanery was converted into the Cathedral Centre and later into
the Diocesan Centre, so that the diocese could be managed from
Brecon. The Centre was formally opened by the Queen; the ensuing
reception was held in the room that has since been called the
Queens Room. On the north side of the Close, Caroe rebuilt the
Almonry, now the home of the Succentor. Almonries were
traditionally built near the monastery gate for the convenience Of
giving alms to the needy.
He rebuilt the wall around the close, preserving the ruinous
gateway:
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He restored the tithe barn with its engaging gargoyles and
wooden mullioned windows, facing Priory Hill. The new barn for hay
had been built within an angle of the precinct walls in the
1520s.
These sensitive restorations complete the most agreeable
informal group. In all
this work, he retained such medieval and 18th century fittings
as had survived;
and bestowed great care on the design of new joists, corbels,
furnishings,
quarry tile floors, fireplaces, chimneys, doors and their
surrounds. Most
external doors, as in the Cathedral itself, were fitted with
Caroe latches (his
own patented invention and still the easiest latch for opening
heavy doors).
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Demolished when they became vacant, to open up the Cathedral
vista on that
side. A thanksgiving service to dedicate the precincts was held
on 7th October,
1927. Our debt to Caroes genius and inspiration is enormous;
there should be
a memorial to him in the Cathedral precinct.
His final design for the Cathedral was the magnificent stone
reredos set up in 1937, in memory of Bishop Bevan; thus the
Cathedral acquired its focal point. Scotts altar had been too
insignificant, and paid no homage to Welsh craftsmanship. Caroes
general design corresponds to the 15th century reredos of St
Illtuds church at Llantwit Major: an elaborately carved stone
screen in which the central carving of the Crucifixion is
surrounded by niches for statues of Biblical and local holy men;
panels at the base, left and right, beautifully depict the
Annunciation and the two Maries at Christs tomb. In 1905, Caroe had
restored the Llantwit reredos. He had likewise restored the wooden
rood screens at Partrishow and Llanfilo. The four intricately
worked towers of the Cathedral reredos resemble these screens in
style. These towers are carefully aligned to the mullions of the
east window. Doors to the left and right of the reredos were
intended to lead to a large treasury, to be built into the back, as
they did at Llantwit Major; Caroe sent drawings for the treasury a
fortnight before his death in 1938. It turned out to be his last
design he ever made: never, alas, executed. The reredos itself is
one of the last pieces of pure Gothic Revival work in Britain.
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Alban and Martin had W.D.s consuming interest and sensitivity,
but not his available funds or opportunities; Alban, like his
father, wished in vain to re-instate a hanging rood: so that had to
wait until 2012. His completion of Bishops throne had to be a
somewhat mean affair. Under the Deans orders, in 1941, he moved
Scotts choir stalls from the chancel to their present position
under the tower: an unwise move, since the wooden roof absorbs
sound instead of reflecting it; thus, choristers on one side cannot
hear what choristers on the other side are singing. The removal of
the choir stalls left an unsightly gap in the floor of encaustic
tiles made by Godwin of Lugwardine; the Earl of Camden had seen
such tiles in the choir of Hereford, and instructed Scott to order
similar ones for Brecon. Thus, the Godwin tiles were thrown out,
and replaced by the present plain stone slabs. A few Godwin tiles
survive in the sanctuary around the altar.
Of necessity, Alban Caroe moved the pulpit down from the
north-eastern pier of crossing to its present position in front of
the choir stalls. The space under the tower had formerly contained
pews for the congregation.) Alban Caroe added the flat-roofed fuel
store (with a Caroe latch on the door) tucked out of sight outside
the south west corner; he inserted tactful radiator recesses for
the new heating system. In 1963, Alban and Martin Caroe, by then
partners in the firm (and engaged in the wonderful restoration of
the west front of Wells
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from 1974-1986) designed the oak screen at the entrance to St
Keynes Chapel, to match the old screen between the Chapel and the
nave; it was paid for by Mrs Margaret Kirkland of Swansea, a former
Court member of the Cordwainers Guild. On either side of the
entrance are two plaques; one bears a goats head, the traditional
emblem of the Cordwainers; the other depicts tools of the trade: a
hammer, awl, nails and knife.
THE CHURCHYARD
French visitors like to see the tomb of Capitaine Francois
Husson, a French officer who died in Brecon when he was one of 86
open prisoners during the Napoleonic wars (1799-1815). Brecon was
then one of the `parole towns in which captured French officers
were allowed to live more or less normal lives, provided they did
not stray further than a mile from the town centre; the chosen
parole towns were in remote areas far from sea ports. His monument,
beside the path to the Pendre, suggests that he was a well-liked
figure in the town. The tombstone was erected in 1810 by the
townspeople of Brecon, with the inscription: `By Foreign hands his
Humble Grave adornd/ By Strangers honourd and by Strangers
mourned.
. Thus, it seems, the citizens ecumenically buried a Roman
Catholic in an Anglican churchyard. The crossing avenue of lime
trees leading to the priory groves is an ancient right of way: once
beloved by Henry Vaughan, the Swan of Usk: now beloved by local
dog-owners who leave less poetic evidence. The south east corner
between the transept and the nave provides a fitting burial ground
for Bishops.
Work of maintaining the Cathedrals fabric and altering it to
suit new requirements continues. Much work has been achieved in the
last 30 years; as
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mentioned above, the old Deanery was fitted out as the Diocesan
Centre and the former Canonry became the Deanery in 1968. The 800th
anniversary of the church in 1993 gave the impulse for further
developments; previous estimates for re-hanging the bells in the
tower had been too expensive. Now, funds were found; until 1995,
there had only been 5 bells, the two largest of which were cracked.
The metal from the cracked bells was used towards a casting of
seven new bells, thus creating a ring of ten bells. A new frame was
fitted, with cast iron braces and a galvanized steel frame heads.
The new frame had to be placed in the north-west corner of the
bell-chamber, because of the great span of the tower, and
structural weakness in the south wall. Part of the old frame was
decayed, where water had flowed down the flagpole. The first
official ring of the ten bells was made on 7 May, 1995: after a
service of thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of VE day. Thus,
bells rang out again after a silence of 175 years. The old frame
may be seen in the Heritage Centre, with reproductions of the old
bells held from repaired fittings. The bells, old and new, are
inscribed with the names of their donors. Above the soundbow of the
treble: I RING FOR THE FRIENDS OF BRECON CATHEDRAL.
. The 14th century frame was moved to the Heritage Centre, with
reproductions of the old bells, held from repaired fittings.
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The Heritage Centre itself was converted out of the old tithe
barn which had for years been used for stables, then garages. Along
with the Pilgrims Restaurant next door, it was formally opened in
1996. In 1999, flood-lighting was introduced, so that the tower
shines like a beacon over the district (including the A40 by-pass)
at night. In 2002, new chairs replaced Victorian pews, providing
comfortable seats for concerts, and adding warm red colour to the
nave. In 2005, new lighting was installed within the Cathedral,
including illumination of the Caroe reredos which had previously
been inconspicuous on dark days and at night. In 2007-2008, all the
interior walls of the east end were splendidly restored with
rain-resistant lime plaster; the old plaster in the transepts had
bubbled and flaked; walls of the chancel had at some point been
painted with inappropriate oil-based paint. In 2010, leaking dormer
windows of the Choir Room were replaced. Cathedral camps now help,
every summer, among other things, to control vegetation in the
churchyard. A group of volunteers keep the gardens spick and span
through the year. The Cathedral, its surrounding buildings and
grounds can never have looked finer than they do now. Owing to this
recent care, and above all owing to Caroes sensitive restoration of
the Close, the Cathedral and its adjoining buildings comprises one
of the most agreeable and complete groups of ecclesiastical
buildings in Wales. However, all this work has emptied our coffers;
unlike English cathedrals, we do not charge for entry or
photography. Thus, gifts from visitors who can afford it are
enormously appreciated: especially if placed in the gift-aid
envelopes provided.
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(Text written by Richard Camp, who is alone responsible for
errors and omissions; numerous people have helped with information
and allowed the use of their photographs, including especially the
Royal Commission, Dr Madelaine Gray, Sue Hasker, Nick Kaye and Rex
Harris.)
Selected Bibliography Adams, Bernard Typescript of the first
guide for Welcomers. n.d. Davies, John Brecon Cathedral Official
Guide 4th edition, 2008 Eisel, John C. The Church Bells of
Breconshire Logaston Press, 2002 Freeman, Jennifer W.D. Caroe: his
architectural achievement Manchester University Press, 1990
Gwynne-Jones Brecon Cathedral 1093-1537 Brycheiniog 1992 Hughes,
T.J. Waless One Hundred Best Churches Seren 2006 Jones, Theophilus
History of the County of Brecknock, enlarged by Sir Joseph Russell
Bailey, 1900 Lewis, Michael R. From Darkness to Light: the
Catholics of Breconshire Old Bakehouse Publications, 1992 Morgan,
Gwenllian Brecon Cathedral 8th edition, 1935 Morgan, Gwenllian The
Vanished Tombs of Brecon Cathedral. Archaeologia Cambrensis 1925
Royal Commission The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist.
Published by the Friends of Brecon Cathedral to mark the 900th
Anniversary, 1994 Scourfield, Robert & Haslam, Richard
Buildings of Wales: Powys Yale University Press 2013 Wheeler,
Richard The Medieval Church Screens of the Southern Marches,
Logaston Press, 2006 Walker, David Brecon Priory in the Middle Ages
(Swansea & Brecon Historical Essays) Christopher Davies,
1974