Cathedral

Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

The Cathedral Green, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 2LA

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Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

The cathedral with its shrine of St Teilo is a perfect starting point for the 20-mile Our Lady of Penrhys Pilgrimage, paying homage to a holy well and statue of Our Lady

Highlights

  • Skull of St Teilo
  • Relics of St Teilo and St Dyfrig

After a few decades languishing in an Australian bank vault, the skull of St Teilo was restored to Llandaff Cathedral in 1994. It is displayed with great veneration in a reliquary niche in the St Teilo Chapel. The saint was the second bishop of the diocese and lived in the late 6th century.

This well-travelled relic left the cathedral in 1450 when the bishop donated it to a local family who had restored the saint’s tomb. Its whereabouts were vaguely known until the mid-20th century when its owner gave it to an Australian cousin. An exhaustive search finally tracked the skull down, and its owner agreed to return it to the saint’s former home, a mere 544 years after it left. It is now displayed in a niche on the right of the chapel altar, sitting on an elaborate metal stand.

The rest of his holy body stayed in the cathedral, even during the Reformation years. His tomb is on the right as you stand directly in front of the high altar. A worn medieval carving of the saint in bishop’s vestments sits on top of his stone monument. It was last opened in 1850, the saint’s body accompanied by a badly decayed staff and cup. A note inside recorded a previous opening in 1736.

St Dyfrig’s shrine is found on the opposite side of the cathedral in a chapel dedicated in his honour. His tomb is set into the north wall, also bearing a medieval effigy of a bishop. St Dyfrig was the first primate of the diocese, who trained St Teilo. He was also active in Herefordshire, perhaps founding the church at Hentland. He died and was originally buried on Bardsey Island.

St Dyfrig’s relics were translated to Llandaff in 1120 by Bishop Urban, to mark the foundation of his new cathedral here. The arch behind the high altar dates from Bishop Urban’s time, while most of the current structure is 13th century.

There is some debate about whether the earliest bishops were based here or at Llandeilo Abbey in Carmarthenshire, 42 miles to the northwest. There is no physical evidence of an early church at Llandaff, although a Celtic cross found 100m away is displayed in the south choir aisle. The arrival of St Dyfrig’s relics from Bardsey no doubt greatly boosted the cathedral’s claims to supremacy.

As befits such an ancient diocese, the cathedral is dedicated to five saints: St Peter, St Paul, St Dyfrig, St Teilo, and St Euddogwy. The first four need no further introduction. St Euddogwy was a 6th-century monk who served here as the third bishop until his death in 615. His shrine remained in Llandaff Cathedral until the Reformation. His name is Oudoceus in English, and his saint’s day was widely celebrated in medieval England too, on 2 July.

At the time of my visit, Llandaff Cathedral was also the seat of the Archbishop of Wales. The post is not linked to any specific diocese; any of the six bishops in Wales can be promoted to the office. The seat has since moved to Brecon Cathedral.

Llandaff is a suburb of Cardiff: Llandaff means “church on the River Taff,” and Cardiff means “fort on the River Taff.” The cathedral serves the most heavily populated region of Wales. For this reason, it was very badly damaged during the Second World War, losing its roof to an air raid in 1941. The damage was comparable to that at Coventry Cathedral. The contrast between these two sites could not be greater – yet Coventry’s ruins and Llandaff’s revival both bear witness to the same faith, the same hope.

St Teilo’s Well is 100m uphill from the east end of the cathedral, on Cathedral Close. It is built into the base of a stone wall, inaccessible behind heavy metal bars, with an information plaque. The Celtic cross in the cathedral was found built into the wall behind this well in 1870.

This cathedral is closed on three days a year, and I happened to visit on one of them. However, it was holding a flower exhibition, which cost £6 to enter – a price I would pay any day to see this cathedral and its extraordinary relics.

Our Lady of Penrhys Pilgrimage

The cathedral is also the starting point for the Penrhys Pilgrimage Way to the shrine of Our Lady of Penrhys, inaugurated in March 2020. Pilgrimage to this site began after a miraculous appearance of a statue of the Blessed Virgin by the holy well at Penrhys, Ffynnon Fair. A modern statue was installed in 1953 near the main roundabout, and a 20-mile pilgrimage route has been devised to encourage a modern revival to the holy well, which sits in a little stone wellhouse.

Directions

Llandaff Cathedral, The Cathedral Green, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 2LA

www.llandaffcathedral.org.uk

W3W: loving.lonely.status

GPS: 51.4958N 3.2184W

Fairwater railway station 1km

The cathedral is in the northwest of Cardiff and is open daily. To find the holy well, leave the cathedral by the main exit and walk round to the opposite end of the building. Walk uphill along Cathedral Close, and the well is on the right after 100m. The holy well at Penrhys is just south of the town, at 51.6408N 3.4455W; the statue is by the main town roundabout on the B4512. A footpath of about 200m connects them.

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Key facts

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Britain’s Pilgrim Places

This listing is an extract from Britain’s Pilgrim Places, written by Nick Mayhew-Smith and Guy Hayward and featuring hundreds of similar spiritually charged sites and landscapes from across Britain.

Proceeds from sale of the book directly support the British Pilgrimage Trust, a non-profit UK charity. Thank you.

Location

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Cathedral

Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

The Cathedral Green, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 2LA

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