St Tewdric's Church | |
---|---|
Church of St Tewdric | |
Denomination | Church in Wales |
Previous denomination | Roman Catholic Church of England |
History | |
Status | active |
Founder(s) | Meurig ap Tewdrig |
Dedication | St Tewdric |
Cult(s) present | King Tewdrig |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade I |
Designated | 1955 |
Years built | 6th century 13th century 15th century 19th century |
Administration | |
Diocese | Diocese of Monmouth |
Parish | Mathern |
St Tewdric's Church is a Church in Wales parish church in Mathern, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is purportedly built over the resting place of Saint Tewdrig for whom it is named. [1] A church has been located on the site since the 6th century. It was reconstructed by the Normans in the Early English style, and later was renovated by the Victorians. It is a Grade I listed building. [2]
According to the Liber Landavensis , when King Tewdrig fell in battle against the Anglo-Saxons at the River Wye, it was his desire to be buried on Ynys Echni; however the soldiers were unable to get his body there. Instead, he was buried at Mathern by his son Meurig ap Tewdrig. [1] An oratory was built on top of his grave, and the land surrounding it was given to the Celtic Christian Bishops of Llandaff. [3] Nearby Mathern Palace was later built for the use of the bishops. [1]
Following the Norman conquest of Wales, the Celtic foundation was rebuilt in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in the Early English style. The chancel and nave arcades of the existing church date from those periods, so that "the interior is dominated by work of the C13," though the west pier of the north arcade dates from the previous century. [4] In the words of architectural historian John Newman, it was later "grandiosely enlarged" by John Marshall, the Bishop of Llandaff between 1478 and 1496. Under his stewardship, the aisles were widened, a porch added on the south side, and the tower, built of ashlar blocks, was constructed. [2] [4]
A stone coffin, thought to contain the remains of Tewdrig, was first discovered when Francis Godwin was bishop in 1614; at that time it was moved to the chancel. An urn containing the heart of another bishop, Miles Salley, was unearthed and reburied at the same time. [1] [3]
In the 1880s, the Church of England ordered a renovation of the church. John Prichard restored part of the church for £2,500. Ewan Christian later restored the chancel while rebuilding the south wall of the church and reroofing. [2] During the renovation, the stone coffin was rediscovered under the altar, with a skeleton with the skull split by an axe blow, in the same way that Tewdrig supposedly died. [5] However historian Fred Hando claims from an eye-witness account that the skull only had a hole from a spear in it rather than an axe split. [6] The remains were reinterred afterwards. [5] On the wall of the chancel is a late 18th-century inscription noting that Tewdrig (Theodoric) is interred in the church, with an addendum noting the rediscovery of the coffin in 1881. [3]
Following restorations, the church now has no visible elements of the original Celtic church. The oldest parts of the church are the arcades of the nave and the arch over the chancel. [2] In 1943, the original medieval font was rediscovered buried underneath the porch and reinstalled for use in the church. [7] The church was granted Grade I listed status in 1955 for being "...a very fine medieval church with interesting Victorian alterations, and for its historic connection with the Bishops of Llandaff and their nearby Mathern Palace." [2]
Tewdrig ap Teithfallt, known simply as Tewdrig, was a king of the post-Roman Kingdom of Glywysing. He abdicated in favour of his son Meurig (Maurice) and retired to live a hermitical life, but was recalled to lead his son's army against an intruding Saxon force. He won the battle, but was mortally wounded.
Llanvaches is a village and community within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The population rose to 402 by the 2011 census.
Bishton or Bishopston is a small rural community in the east of the city of Newport, South Wales. It lies in the Llanwern electoral district (ward) and contains the eastern end of Llanwern steelworks, the Underwood estate as well as Bishton itself. The population in the 2001 census was 2,181; dropping to 2,137 in 2011.
Miles Salley was a late 15th-century Abbot of Eynsham Abbey and Abingdon Abbey and an early 16th-century Bishop of Llandaff. Salley was Abbot of Eynsham in Oxfordshire in the 1490s. He was appointed Bishop of Llandaff, where he is remembered for his building work at the Bishop's Palace in Mathern in Monmouthshire.
Mathern is a historic community (parish) and village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of the town of Chepstow, close to the Severn estuary, the Bristol Channel and the M48 motorway. The village is designated as a Conservation Area. It is now bisected by the motorway, which passes over the road through the village, with the original village located to the south and the more recent development, known as Newton Green, to the north.
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Mathern Palace is a Grade I listed building in the village of Mathern, Monmouthshire, Wales, located some 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Chepstow close to the Severn Estuary. Between about 1408 and 1705 it was the main residence of the Bishops of Llandaff. After falling into ruin, it was restored and its gardens laid out between 1894 and 1899 by the architectural writer Henry Avray Tipping. The garden surrounding the palace is listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
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