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Church in Wales From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St Crallo's Church, often referred to historically as The Cathedral of the Vale of Glamorgan, is a Grade I listed church in Coychurch Lower, Bridgend County Borough, southern Wales.
St Crallo's Church | |
---|---|
Location in Bridgend County Borough | |
51.5062°N 3.5292°W | |
OS grid reference | SS 936 790 |
Location | Coychurch, Bridgend |
Country | Wales, United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church in Wales |
History | |
Founded | 13th century |
Dedication | Saint Crallo |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade I |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | Medieval |
The church is dedicated to the 6th century Celtic saint, Crallo,[1][lower-alpha 1] supposedly related to both Saint Illtyd and Saint Canna.[2] The village in which the church is situated, Coychurch is known in the Welsh language as Llangrallo; Llan – Church, Grallo – Crallo, the church of Crallo.[3] It is believed that the saint founded a church on the site before the construction of the present medieval building.[2]
The present church is dated to the mid to late 13th century,[4] when it was built as part of St Crallo's College.[5][6] The church had undergone no changes since it was built until John Prichard began a restoration in 1870.[7] At the time of the restoration, no work was done on the tower because it appeared to be sound and there was a lack of funds for further restoration work.[8]
On 7 February 1877, the tower fell without warning. The south transept of the church was in ruins and the northern transept was badly damaged.[8][9] The tower's collapse also damaged the cross of Saint Crallo in the church courtyard.[10][11] In 1888, the church hoped to be able to restore the Saint Crallo cross with the help of a drawing made by F. R. Kempson. Fragments of the cross were carefully preserved.[11] The cross was reassembled and is now kept inside the church.[12] At the time the tower fell, a contractor had been removing the remains of those who had been buried near the tower. Some 1,800 remains were being moved to the east side of the church.[10][lower-alpha 2]
Since the nave had relatively little damage, a temporary wall was built at its east end to allow the church to conduct services. It remained in this condition until the church was able to fund the rebuilding project.[13] F. R. Kempson was given the responsibility of the rebuilding work in 1888.[11] The stained glass windows of the aisle were installed by Celtic Studios[14] in the mid 20th century, while the western windows of engraved glass were added by Frank Roper in 1963.[5]
Newman describes the St Crallo's as 'large and impressive' while E. A. Freeman, writing in 1857, suggested that the building would make 'an admirable model for small colonial church'.[15] Built in the mid to late 13th century St Crallo's is cruciform in design.[15]
The church contains a memorial to lexicographer Thomas Richards, a 14th-century tomb chest featuring an effigy of praying monk with fine detail on a plain tomb chest,[4] and an 18th-century memento mori tablet on the western wall dedicated to Richard Howell. St Crallo's Church became a Grade I listed building on 26 July 1963. In the churchyard is Coychurch Celtic Cross-Shaft, which is a Scheduled Monument.[5][16][12]
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