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Key Image Brecon Cathedral/Eglwys Gadeiriol Aberhonddu
Cathedral Close
LD3 9DP Brecon/Aberhonddu
United Kingdom
Denomination: Anglican
Congregation: Brecon Cathedral/Eglwys Gadeiriol Aberhonddu (Diocese of Swansea and Brecon)
Geogr. Coordinates: 51.9513° N, 3.39175° W
Geo Location
Reference year: 1093
Architectural style: Gothic
Building type: Basilica
Description: Former priory church in the Early English style with a square tower over the crossing, integrated into a set of restored monastic buildings
Name derivation: From St John the Evangelist
Altar
  • Reredos by William Douglas Caröe
Pulpit
  • Oak pulpit with carvings of angels at the base (formerly supposed to be in the chancel roof)
Font
  • Norman font (11th cent.) with depictions of Green Men
Organ
  • Built by William Hall and Son in 1886, multiple refittings 1931, 1962, 1973, 1995, 2006
Noteworthy
  • Tomb with ball-flower ornamentation in the St Keyne’s Chapel (1340)
  • Tomb of Walter and Christina Aubrey in the Havard Chapel (14th cent.)
  • Cresset stone, a medieval method of lighting
  • Medieval stone panel, possibly an ancient altarpiece
  • Memorabilia from the battle of Agincourt in 1415 (cf. W. Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV, Scene 7)
  • Wooden effigy of the “armless Lady” from the Gam(es) family, c. 1550
  • Brass chandelier over the font (1722)
  • Bronze crucifix by Helen Sinclair (2012)
History:
1093:   Built on the site of a probably Celtic predecessor church on orders by the Norman knight Bernard de Neufmarché after defeating the Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog
About 1094:   Transfer to Bernard’s confessor Roger from Battle Abbey, Sussex, for construction of a priory as daughter monastery of the abbey
1201:   Reconstruction of choir, chancel, tower and transepts in the Early English style starts
Mid- 14th cent.:   Reconstruction of nave and aisles in the Decorated Style
Late 14th cent.:   Addition of chapels to the transepts
About 1408:   Recorded as a famous church for pilgrims, the “church of Holy Rood or Holy Cross”
1538:   Dissolution of the monastery and use as a parish church, destruction of the rood screen and the crucifix
1836:   Start of the restoration of the largely dilapidated church
1862:   Main restoration works under the supervision of Gilbert Scott
20th cent.:   Restoration of the monastic buildings for the use of the diocese
04/04/1923:   Establishment of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, elevation to Cathedral status
22/04/1973:   Inauguration of the reworked Hill organ
02/04/2012:   Installation of a bronze crucifix replacing the one lost in 1538
Important persons:
Artist:  Caröe, William Douglas (1857–1938, British architect, particularly of churches; major figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement)
Patron:  St John the Evangelist (?–101, apostle, evangelist, martyr )
Sources
Eglwys Gadeiriol Aberhonddu: Croeso cynnes i Eglwys Gadeiriol Aberhonddu (taflen wybodaeth)
Jones, Huw, John E. Davies: Brecon Cathedral, 2018
Marshall, Geoffrey: Rood Cross Returns to Brecon After Nearly 500 Years, 2012, https://breconbeacons.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/rood-cross-returns-to-brecon-after-nearly-500-years/, retrieved 05/06/2019
Owen, Meurig: Ancient Cathedrals of Wales. Their Story and Music, Llygad Gwalch, Conwy 2013, pp. 47–85
Royal Historical Society, ed. E. B. Pryde, D. E. Greenway, S. Porter, I. Roy: Handbook of British Chronology, 3rd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 290–290
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