ST. WOOLOS CATHEDRAL

The foundation of this site as a holy place dates back to the 5th century. A stone church, built as early as the 9th century on this hill overlooking the town, bears witness to the important cult of St. Gwynllyw, the site's founder. "Woolos" is the Anglicism of the name of a Welsh nobleman who converted to Christianity after a divine vision. Remains of these earliest stones can be seen in the chapel at the west end of the cathedral. But most of the building was destroyed in the 15th century by the Welsh prince Owain Glyndwr, leader of his people's revolt for independence... The decapitated statue of Jasper Tudor, who helped rebuild the building after Owain's death, can be seen on the west facade and bears witness to the turbulent civil war.

Miraculously, some fine Romanesque arches remain in the cathedral's nave from these repeated assaults. A plaque commemorating the Chartists was also installed here. (Chartism was a British workers' emancipation movement of the mid-19th century. For more info, see the Pontypool page) The cathedral's website is also very instructive, since as well as providing information on the cathedral itself, it gives a chronology of the evolution of religion in the country. We learn, for example, that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the cathedral in 1962, and that restoration of the medieval roof was completed in 2017.