Cardiff : Architecture and Archaeology in the Medieval Diocese of Llandaff

This book acts as a stimulus to further debate and discussion about the archaeology and architecture of the medieval diocese of Llandaff. It presents work at Cardiff and Skenfrith castles and focuses on buildings at Caldicot and Raglan.

The Association''s 2004 conference focused mainly on the architecture and archaeology of the medieval diocese of Llandaff, comprising much of the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Contributors consider Roman and early medieval south-east Wales, including surviving Christian monuments and the early history of Cardiff. There is a detailed analysis of the c. 1200 wall-paintings at the priory church of Ewenny, where ambitious decorative work replaced a hitherto unknown Romanesque scheme. The early Gothic architecture of Llandaff Cathedral is shown to be related to some of the great contemporary ecclesiastical works in England and elsewhere, such as Glastonbury Abbey, and the unusual form of the cloister arcade at Tintern Abbey is analysed. Other papers cover the late Gothic architecture in south Wales, two 14th-century tomb monuments at Abergavenny, and a study of the magnificent carpentry of a number of late medieval rood-screens that survive in parish churches. The volume concludes with an account of the evidence for post-medieval work in churches in the diocese.