WELCOME TO

NEWPORT CATHEDRAL

WALES

PAUL SCOTT

INTRODUCTION

Newport Cathedral (St Woolos) is a fascinating old building with a long history. However, on my visit I was dismayed to find the tower, the nave and the South aisle cluttered with scaffolding and sheeting – a Cathedral necessity, no doubt, but a photographer’s nightmare. So I did my best, and was delighted later when fellow photographer David Jennings agreed to let me use some of his Cathedral photographs. David’s photos are acknowledged in the text by [Photo: DJ]. Nevertheless, I am unhappy with this site: it is of necessity a compromise, and I feel I have not really done the Cathedral justice. Perhaps another visit is called for!

SATELLITE VIEW

Newport city and railway station is about a kilometre north of the Cathedral, so after a short walk up the steep Stow Hill, we arrive at the top right corner, and walk up Clifton Road. The cathedral stands above us on an island hilltop bounded by roads.

We notice that the axis of the Cathedral is close to geographical east-west, so it is easy to apply our liturgical directions (using capital letters: East for example). So East is east! The Cathedral has an unusual plan with a belltower at the West end, a chapel connected to a long nave with somewhat separated North and South aisles, leading to the chancel at the East end. There is a porch on the South side, and a hall and various areas not open to the public in the Northeast corner.

We begin our exploration at the lychgate (red arrow) at bottom right, and follow up to the tower. We then explore the North side, and then the South side, finishing up with a steep flight of steps down to the Clifton Road / Stow Hill corner.

HISTORY

Wikipedia

Years Built: C11th; 1818 – 1819, 1953

Address: 105 Stow Hill, Newport NP20 4ED, UK

Newport Cathedral (Welsh: Eglwys Gaderiol Casnewydd), also known as St Gwynllyw’s or St Woolos’ Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth within the Church in Wales, and the seat of the Bishop of Monmouth. Its official title is Newport Cathedral of St Woolos, King and Confessor. The name of the saint, Woolos, is an anglicisation of the Welsh name Gwynllyw.

It became a cathedral in 1949 and while it is the size of a large parish church rather than a typical cathedral, its history and development from the sixth to the twentieth century make it arguably one of the most interesting religious buildings in Wales.

St Gwynllyw

The church was founded by St Gwynllyw, who lived in the later fifth century, after the Roman occupation, at a time when Wales was beginning to develop a national identity. Gwynllyw was the king of Gwynllwg, an area which lay between later Glamorgan and Gwent. He was undoubtedly a real person, although miraculous events have been associated with his life and his burial place. He was alleged to have been originally a merciless warrior against adjoining kingdoms, a robber and a pirate. Later in life, he converted to Christianity, having been told in a dream to follow a white ox to the prominent hill, where he built a church, probably of wood. The shape and footprint of this original church is reflected over 1500 years later in St Mary’s chapel at the west end of the cathedral. The church became his burial place (Welsh: eglwys y bedd) and in succeeding centuries was a significant place of pilgrimage. It was subject to plundering and attack including, it is said, by Irish pirates and Danes, and in 1060 by followers of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king.

Gwynllyw is venerated in Wales and in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. He was the husband of St Gwladys and their son was one of the greatest of all Welsh saints and scholars, Cadoc (Cattwg in Welsh).

Medieval period

After their conquest of South Wales, the Anglo-Normans built the first castle in Newport in the late eleventh century or early twelfth century, close to Gwynllyw’s church, which would itself have been rebuilt by then, probably in stone.

A much greater transformation took place at the site in the later twelfth century when a large new church was built in the Romanesque style with round-headed arches, favoured by the Normans. Instead of building this new church directly on the original site of Gwynllyw’s church, it was built to the east, but attached to it, respecting the sanctity of the original site and indicating of the strength of the cult of Gwynllyw.

In the 14th century, the castle was replaced by a new castle on the bank of the River Usk. The town of Newport (Casnewydd in Welsh, meaning ‘new castle’) grew near the castle and river. St Gwynllyw’s church remained prominent on its hill-top in a rural location, well outside the town boundaries and its defensive gates. It retained its status as the parish church of Newport due to its prestige. In the late nineteenth century the church become surrounded by the western suburbs of Newport.