The church of St. Cadoc at Llancarfan is the focus of this small and charming village in the heart of Vale of Glamorgan. Except for services, the church is unfortunately closed for further conservation until December 2013.
The Vale of Glamorgan was an important centre of Christianity in Britain. There was a monastery there from at least 650 AD, founded by St. Cadoc or Cadog. By the 9th century Llancarfan was a flourishing centre of learning, with the main monastic buildings just south of today's church, in Culvery Fields.
Despite destruction by the Danes, Llancarfan monastery proved 'the most powerful ecclesiastical community in Glamorgan'. It did not, however, survive the Norman invasion, and after this early dissolution, responsibility passed to the Abbey of St. Peter's, Gloucester. St. Cadoc retained his presence in the parish church, where the simple chancel arch suggests a foundation of about 1200.
The next 800 years saw the distinctively-shaped church serving its community, and surviving the traumas of reformation and restoration. A Baptist and a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel nearby have come and gone, but St. Cadoc's continues to refocus its role across the parish, reaching out to share its cultural and spiritual relevance to visitors, villagers, and all who treasure the heritage that shaped its history.
Visitors will find an ever-growing wealth of things to do during a trip to St. Cadoc's, the historical Llancarfan valley, and the Vale of Glamorgan. Sponsorship from benevolent donors, and significant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Cadw, is enabling the church's re-discovery, conservation & interpretation of lost - or misunderstood - cultural treasures.
Recently a significant historical find has been discovered, conservators are working to uncover a series of wall paintings, believed to date from the 15th Century, that were found by architects working at the church. There has also been some restoration work done, and more needed to be done, on nine canopies in the church thought to have been installed in the 15th or 16th century.
For more information click here to be taken to the St Cadoc's Church website - and here for a chance to find out more from a BBC News Magazine article about the find at the Church.
The Vale of Glamorgan was an important centre of Christianity in Britain. There was a monastery there from at least 650 AD, founded by St. Cadoc or Cadog. By the 9th century Llancarfan was a flourishing centre of learning, with the main monastic buildings just south of today's church, in Culvery Fields.
Despite destruction by the Danes, Llancarfan monastery proved 'the most powerful ecclesiastical community in Glamorgan'. It did not, however, survive the Norman invasion, and after this early dissolution, responsibility passed to the Abbey of St. Peter's, Gloucester. St. Cadoc retained his presence in the parish church, where the simple chancel arch suggests a foundation of about 1200.
The next 800 years saw the distinctively-shaped church serving its community, and surviving the traumas of reformation and restoration. A Baptist and a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel nearby have come and gone, but St. Cadoc's continues to refocus its role across the parish, reaching out to share its cultural and spiritual relevance to visitors, villagers, and all who treasure the heritage that shaped its history.
Visitors will find an ever-growing wealth of things to do during a trip to St. Cadoc's, the historical Llancarfan valley, and the Vale of Glamorgan. Sponsorship from benevolent donors, and significant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Cadw, is enabling the church's re-discovery, conservation & interpretation of lost - or misunderstood - cultural treasures.
Recently a significant historical find has been discovered, conservators are working to uncover a series of wall paintings, believed to date from the 15th Century, that were found by architects working at the church. There has also been some restoration work done, and more needed to be done, on nine canopies in the church thought to have been installed in the 15th or 16th century.
For more information click here to be taken to the St Cadoc's Church website - and here for a chance to find out more from a BBC News Magazine article about the find at the Church.
