BRECON CATHEDRAL: A BRIEF HISTORY

The round shape of the churchyard suggests there was a Celtic church on this site; it would have been a wooden building, of which nothing survives. There is little surviving evidence either of the first stone-built church: a Benedictine priory, founded by Bernard de Neufmarche, the Norman leader who conquered the Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog in 1093. The dedication to St John the Evangelist suggests that Bernard wished it to be regarded as a new church in order that he may be regarded as its founder; the Celtic church would have been dedicated to a Welsh saint. For nearly 400 years, it was a daughter monastery of Battle Abbey in Sussex: and thus had a prior, not an abbot. Roger, a monk of Battle was Bernards confessor. In about 1100, when he was staying in Brecon Castle, he persuaded Bernard to grant the church of St John the Evangelist to his Sussex abbey of St Martin. The founding community of monks from Battle Abbey arrived from Battle in about 1125; another monk from Battle, Walter, became the first prior. Bernard had endowed the priory with land and churches with their tithes in the area he had conquered, and gave it to the monks of Battle. He and Roger built the Benedictine church and living quarters. During the twelfth century more endowments of land and tithes followed not only in Brecon, but also in Herefordshire. After Bernards death, the area passed by marriage into the hands of the hands of the Earls of Hereford. Some of them showed strong interest in the affairs of Brecon priory and even expressed a wish to be buried in it; thus more land and eight more churches with their tithes were given to the monks. They were presented also with the tithes for all the fish caught in Llangors Lake, and the right to fish there. Thus, by around 1215, the monastery was wealthy enough to embark on a rebuilding programme in the new French Gothic style, confusingly known in Britain as `Early English. Only a few Norman stones were re-used. Later in the century, the same process took place in the Augustinian abbey which is now Bristol Cathedral: although its Norman Chapter House remains, the chancel in nave were pulled down in order to be rebuilt in the Gothic manner, characterized by pointed windows and arcades. Monastic quarters were likewise extended; beneath the choir room on the east side is a sequence of lancet windows that once lit the monks dormitory. The extent of the monastic quarters suggests that a large community was expected; however, there were never more than eight monks; there were only four in 1401, and five in 1435 and 1535. Curiously, all the monks seem to have been English.
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Re-building in Brecon began, as in Bristol, at the chancel end, the most important part, where Mass was celebrated at the altar, and at side altars in the transepts. As often with Benedictine foundations, the nave became the parish church, served by its own priest, who lived in the room above the north porch. Parishioners shared the use of the tower in which they rang three small bells alongside the priors two large ones. There was a considerable delay before the nave was built: perhaps owing to Llywelyns invasion of southern Powys. The nave and its aisles are all in the later `Decorated style of the 14th century. The Cathedral is very remarkable in having nothing visible that was built later, during the final phase of English Gothic, the so-called `Perpendicular style of the 15th century when most parish churches were built or extended. The Perpendicular style is not found in mainland Europe: thus we retain a French-looking church in a mid-Wales market town. When the monastery was dissolved in 1536, under the Act of Suppression. Its buildings and possessions became the property of Sir John Price; the cloister garth disappeared under a tennis court. However, sections of medieval walls and roofs survive in the present rebuilt vestries, Deanery, Clergy House and Diocesan and Heritage Centres. After the Dissolution, the whole church became the parish church of St John the Evangelist, in the diocese of St Davids; skinners, weavers, tuckers, tailors, and shoe-makers of Brecon continued to meet in their respective guild chapels in the aisles; these had wooden partitions decorated with trade emblems; these guilds represented five stages of cloth-making from local wool. They left the badges and shields of their trades inscribed on their tombstones (later moved by Scott, some to the west end of the nave and to the north transept). After the formation of the Church in Wales it became the Cathedral of the new diocese of Swansea and Brecon on 14th September, 1923. All the external stone is local grey and purple red sandstone from quarries in the Priory grounds. These quarries were re-opened for the 19th century restorations.

THE EASTWARD VISTA AND CHANCEL The greatest glory of the Cathedral is in the perfect simplicity of the Early English chancel; this is a unique design in Wales; unlike the Early English work at Llandaff, it does not derive inspiration from the south western regional designs of Wells and Glastonbury. The design of the triplets of pure lancet windows at the east end is unique. On the north and south sides, deeply set stilted slender windows rise high above the multiple shafts clustered between them. The centre light of each triplet rise into the vault, high above the side ones; there is no clerestory or second level of windows to interrupt. (The nave, by contrast, has the customary clerestory.) The bell-shaped capitals of the columns show deliberate rejection of the standard stiff leaf foliage of the period: this conventional motif would have interrupted the purity of the whole
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design. The closest parallel to the design of the chancel is the Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral, for which this may have been a `blueprint.

The east window illustrated above is in effect, another triplet, with two much smaller side windows, thus creating a quintuplet. Its Victorian glass celebrates the glorious achievements of the South Wales Borderers. In 2013, a panel of older glass thought to be from the earlier east window, was discovered in the cellars; it depicts St John the Evangelist, the patron saint. A moulded horizontal string course runs below the columns and partly supports them; without this vertical feature the chancel would lack stability. In the early days of the 19 th century Gothic Revival, an architectural historian, Charles Parker, recorded that the design cannot be called inferior to any Early English chancel in the United Kingdom. The chancel has a triple sedilia (seats for the prior and monks) and an even more rare triple piscinae, for the washing of sacred vessels. The sedilia and piscinae are set under trefoil arches.

Built into the north wall is a much damaged stone relief carving of the crucifixion: a 14th century reredos which once belonged to a narrow altar. It was found on the floor, where, presumably, it had been placed by the agents of the monarchy or Cromwell, so that it would be trampled on. The images Christ, the Virgin and St John has clearly been literally de-faced.

Cromwells soldiery made a great bonfire from the medieval stalls and other furnishings. The painting close to this stone is a good copy of Gerrit van Honthursts The Mocking of Christ after the trial of Jesus (Mark 14:65): Roman soldiers are binding Christ like any other prisoner. Honthurst was a member of the Utrecht school of painters, but lived in Italy form 1610-1620 and was strongly influenced by Caravaggio, using chiaroscuro: here, using a candle to cast light on figures in darkness. This painting was used as the altar piece before the present reredos was installed.

Archways at the west end lead to side chapels which also have altars and originally had more; the archways have clustered and moulded shafts to fit their use for solemn processions of monks to the minor altars.

The chancel was re-roofed in the 15th century; this roof has elaborately moulded timbers and floral scrollwork in green and yellow: a fine example of Welsh carpentry. The late medieval roof still exists above the stone vault inserted by Scott. Drawings of the old roof can be seen in the Heritage Centre. In 2013, Richard Suggett, working for the Royal Commission, climbed into the roof space to photograph the painted trefoiled arcading of the medieval roof with its carved braces. As argued below, Scott had no business thus to cover up ancient, high quality, Welsh woodwork with a French-style vault.

THE NAVE

The high and wide arcades give a feeling of spaciousness. There are four bays on the south side and three bays on the north side. The arches on the north side carry more mouldings than the slightly later arches on the south side: presumably an economy measure. The highest, or clerestory windows have `Y shaped tracery, characteristic of the 14th century, and the so-called `Decorated style, the second period of English Gothic architecture; their design has parallels in contemporary Herefordshire churches such as Bromyard and Pembridge. Unusually however, the clerestory windows are placed over the pillars instead of above the arches; the clerestory windows have three lights on the south side but only two on the north. Towards the west end of the south arcade there hangs a reproduction of Raphaels `Madonna of the Goldfinch, painted in about 1506. The infant Christ child, to the right of the Blessed Virgin, is stroking the head of a goldfinch that the infant John the Baptist is giving to Him. The bird is a symbol of the Passion, because of the blood-like streaks in its feathers, and because it feeds among thorns.

The great west window, the west window of the south aisle and the dormer in the north aisle were the last ones to be built; their style is that of the late 14th century, with intersecting tracery. For a great church, Brecon is unusual in not having a great western processional doorway: such as exists in the much smaller church of St David in Llywel, a few miles to the west. The west end in St Johns seems to have been a piece-meal design: the south aisle does not extend as far west as the nave, and the north aisle has no west window. It is worth zooming in on the lovely little Good Shepherd window in the top of the western gable. Masons marks on the octagonal column nearest to the north door confirm that the builders came from Herefordshire villages.

THE FONT AND ITS SURROUNDINGS Grotesque carvings of the font belong to the Hereford school, resembling the style of Kilpeck and Leominster; the latter was the centre of this school of sculptors. This is the largest Norman font in Wales dating from c.1190: its base is late Norman or `transitional since it has Gothic pointed arcading around the stem. The font is of a lighter stone than the sandstone of the walls which would not have been suitable for sculpture. The figures on the back of the font as it now stands must have been savagely knocked away by Cromwells soldiers. Grotesque symbolical carvings survive: a tree, a scorpion, an eagle, and a fish between three green men; the `pagan green man often appear on fonts; they,
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with the scorpion here may symbolize the evil that is driven out at baptism: while the eagle and the fish are traditional symbols of Christian salvation; the eagle is the attribute of St John the Evangelist, our patron saint. The ambiguous tree could symbolise mans first disobedience (eating the fruit of the forbidden tree) or the tree of life; a sermon in stone indeed. The carvings on the bowl are in the early Norman style; the column upon which it stands has interlaced arches characteristic of the later Norman period. To the south of the font is a 12th century cresset stone, the largest such stone in Britain; its sculpted hollows held oil for thirty flames to lighten the darkness of early morning services. It was found in a garden nearby in the Pendre, and bought by Gwenllian Morgan who gave it to the church. Behind the font hangs a handsome candelabra, made in Bristol in 1722; it has 3 tiers of 7 branches; it was originally given to St Marys church in the town by Elizabeth Lucy.

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ST KEYNES CHAPEL (formerly the Corvizers (shoe-makers) Chapel) While the chancel belonged to the monks, the nave belonged to the people; it had its own nave altar in front of the choir screen. Originally, the aisles were filled with partitioned guild chapels: of which only the Corvizers (shoemakers) chapel survives. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved on the credence table (a reused medieval foliated tomb top). The stained glass windows of the Cathedral are all Victorian or Edwardian; the most interesting ones are alongside and above St Keynes chapel, depicting Celtic holy men and women who brought Christianity to this region, and sent missionaries to England, long before St Augustine landed in Kent. St Keyne is depicted in the end window nearest the altar of her chapel; for a time she lived in a hermits cells in Somerset and Cornwall, and thus gave Keynsham, near Bath, and St Keyne near Liskeard their names; in Keynsham, as the window depicts, she turned a plague of serpents into ammonites. Southey wrote a ballad based on the legend that the holy well at St Keynes conferred supremacy to the first marriage partner who tasted it (it was the wife, who had the foresight to carry a bottle of water into church). The other lights of this window depict St Cadoc who lived in a monastery at Caerwent and later founded a monastery at Llancarfon; he holds a plan of this; on the left is St Illtyd, the most learned of all Britons; 15 churches in Wales, mostly ancient, are dedicated to him; as are 7 in Brittany. He founded a monastery and seat of learning at Llantwit Major; the Guinness Book of
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Records testifies that this was Britains first university. The dormer window above is `the founders window: it depicts Brychan himself, who founded the principality of Brecknock in the early 5th century.

To his left is the virgin martyr St Alud; she is depicted near her cell in the Brecon Beacons; at her feet is the stream which gushed from the rocks on the Slwch tump at her martyrdom. To Brychans right is St Cynog who founded nearby churches at Defynnog, Battle and Ystradgynlais; he was killed by the Saxons near Merthyr Cynog. Many such local saints were said to be the children and grandchildren of Brychan who could not possibly have begat so many illustrious descendants; it was judicious to claim kinship with the leader of the tribe. The window beneath the dormer is the Founders window; it commemorates significant Lords of Brecon: the earls of Hereford were lords of Brecon until 1373: i.e. during virtually the whole building of the medieval church which explains the dominance of Herefordshire motifs. In the centre is Giles de Breose, Bishop of Hereford; he holds our tower which he started (the tower was not actually finished until 200 years later); he sent a master mason from Hereford to oversee the building of the chancel.

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To his right is Humphrey de Bohun, during whose time the nave was built; to his left is Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, the last Lord of Brecknock, executed on the orders of Henry V!!! in 1521; he sponsored the building of the tower of St Marys church in the town. The door to the right of the altar leads to the steps up to the roof loft which used to cross the east end of the nave. The tomb recess built into the opposite wall has ballflowers around the ogee (flat `S shaped) arch: these date it from around 1330 when these threepetalled flowers enclosing a ball were in fashion; the tower of Hereford Cathedral is bespattered with them: more evidence of Hereford masons working here. The recumbent effigy may be older than the arch above it: it is of simpler design, lying flat on a stone slab that does not quite fit into the recess. The identity of the figure is unknown.

The painting over the altar is a reproduction of Raphaels `Madonna del Granducca (so called because it was owned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany). The high door in the south wall opens to the steps that were used by pilgrims climbing up to cross the great rood beam described above. The survival of such rood stairs is quite rare. The chapel later became a national shrine for shoemakers; annually from 1936-1995 the British Boot and Shoe Federation processed from the Guildhall for their service here. Tudor style screen (pictured below) between the Chapel and the nave includes square bosses that came from the medieval oak roof of the chancel. . The Tudor rose is prominent; the screen was formerly part of the chancel screen.

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The west side of the screen was carved to match, in 1963, by Robert Thompson of Kilburn; his trade-mark mouse can be seen on the bottom right as you enter The Chapel.

. THE NORTH AISLE The Games monument is on the right as you leave the Chapel. Fewer than 100 wooden statues in Britain survived being burnt at the reformation or by Cromwells soldiers; this recumbent effigy of a female figure is one of them.

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Dating from 1555, and somewhat damaged, she was originally part of a threetier tomb of the Games family on the south side of the chancel. She was probably the wife of Thomas Games; she is fashionably dressed in a pleated skirt; a long pendant chain carries her pomander (to disguise noxious odours). The family is famous for its association with Agincourt, where, as Shakespeare mentioned in `Henry V, Davy Gam Esquire was one of the few British casualties (historically, he was leader of the Kings bodyguard, knighted by the King on the battlefield just before his death). The battle of Agincourt took place on St Crispins day (25 October); almost certainly the chapel behind her was once dedicated to St Crispin, the patron saint of shoe-makers. In the wall above the Games effigy, there is a memorial plaque to the evangelizing Methodist from Brecon, Dr Thomas Coke; in May 2014, a commemorative week-end was held to mark the 200th anniversary of his tragic death at sea. Although he worked closely with Wesley, he never formally left the Church of England and had expressed a wish to be buried in this Priory Church, alongside other members of his family.

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He obtained a doctorate in law at Jesus College, Oxford (the Welsh College) and worked first as a burgess and bailiff in Brecon. He was later ordained as an Anglican curate in South Petherton in Somerset: but dismissed in 1777 for his Wesleyan leanings. He returned there later and preached to about 2000 people in the open air. He remained an Anglican priest, but joined John Wesley who valued his gifts as an evangelical preacher, his legal mind and skilful administration. He was appointed administrator of Methodisms London circuit in 1780. In 1784, Wesley made him superintendent for the work of American Methodism in the newly independent United States. The plaque records that he crossed the Atlantic 88 times; he presented an antislavery petition to George Washington and threatened slave-owners with excommunication. He established missionaries in Antigua and other British colonies. He was drowned in May, 1814: leading a group of missionaries to India, Ceylon and South Africa and his remains were committed to the great deep, until the sea shall give up her dead. Further down the north aisle, there is a great chest made in about 1550: it is described by Robert Scourfield as a magnificent piece of the north European Mannerism. The figures on the front have projecting heads: St Barbara, the patron saint of builders is on the left, with a tower, her emblem; behind; on the right is a Roman soldier, like Samson, pulling down a pillar of a temple, in evident defiance of St Barbara. A figure of Vanity, holding a mirror in one hand and a skull in the other: All is Vanity; nothing will last forever, even great buildings.

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THE CROSSING The inner shafts of the arches into the nave stop above ground level: thus to allow room for the screen between the monastic east end and the peoples nave. The peoples altar would have stood at the east end of the nave in front of the nave screen. In the 15th century this became no ordinary screen; we then became known as the Church of the Holy Rood: a gigantic gilded cross hung to the west of the tower; as described in 15th century Welsh poems, the Rood beam displayed symbols of the four evangelists; then smaller carvings of the two thieves, as well as the larger figures of St John and the Virgin Mary on either side of the huge central figure of Christ on the Cross. The rood screen
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would have been would have dominated the church, with its painted figures gleaming in the light from the clerestory and from candles. It was customary to keep a lamp burning before the rood. Its reputation for miracles of healing made the rood famous throughout Wales and the Marches, and drew pilgrims from great distances. Doors high in the wall on the north and south side show where there was a gallery or rood loft, crossed by pilgrims; in the centre, they would touch the feet of Christ on the hanging rood, and be cured. They would have left by the door on the south side and come down the existing steps within the thickness of the wall of the south aisle; the door from these steps can be seen in the first bay of the south arcade. Pilgrims would then have proceeded down the south aisle to the pilgrims dormitory; from its now blocked long squint, they would have had a view of the golden rood. The slanted corbel stones high in the wall show where there was a canopy or celure over the Rood; the lower corbels must have supported a great beam upon which the carved figures stood (but not the hanging figure of Christ whose feet must have been within in reach of pilgrims). The dormer window in the north aisle may have been inserted to throw light on the Rood. The diagram on the next page, drawn by Gwynne-Jones reconstructs the overall arrangement:

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The Rood and screen were destroyed at the Reformation; fragments of delicate carving from one of the screens were built into the present pulpit; at the base of the pulpit are angels that used to support the wooden roof of the chancel.

The loss of the golden rood as of the choir stalls and all other medieval fittings, reminds us of the devastation of a vast amount of medieval art under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, and Cromwell: and the shock that was experienced by the parishioners who found their familiar church denuded of all its meaningful decoration. Protestant hatred of idolatry was enforced with hatchets, hammers and white-wash brushes, wielded by zealots intent on eradicating every image of the Godhead, Christ and saints; in those years of pious barbarism, most of the art of medieval Britain were swept into oblivion. Books were burned, statues were smashed, frescoes were obliterated by whitewash. Shrines of saints and chantry chapels were removed. As one Anglesey bard put it: cold in our time as the grey ice are our churches. was it not sad, in a day or two, to throw down the altars! Instead of the altar, a solitary trestle. Churches became preaching boxes, no longer centred on the mystery of the Mass. Thanks to the initiative of the Dean, Geoffrey Marshall, a new rood cross was installed at Christmas, 2012. The new one is the work of Helen Sinclair; she sculpted it out of a piece of driftwood found on Rhossili beach, and then cast in bronze. It was commissioned by a lawyer, Anthony Bunker, to celebrate his wifes ordination to the Anglican priesthood. It had been exhibited widely throughout the United Kingdom during the year, and had been displayed in Brecon Cathedral at Easter. Anthony Bunker and his wife decided that it was far too beautiful to be kept to themselves; on hearing this, the Dean promptly suggested that it should come to Brecon, to replace the rood that had been destroyed at the Reformation. It is 6 foot 5 inches high but slender enough not to block the eastward vista; it colour harmonizes with the colour of the stone walls. In winter, when the sun is low, it catches the light magically; so, as Sunday communicants file under it to receive the bread and the wine, the body and blood of Christ, they are reminded of Christs ultimate sacrifice made for our redemption. It is a great aid to worship.
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Before the Reformation, the walls would have been filled with colourful paintings; the only murals now are the damaged ones beneath the western tower arches. These early 17th century plaster paintings depict: on the north side, behind the pulpits, a black eagle: derived from the seal of the Priory, and the symbol of St John the Evangelist; on the south side is a mantle of estate, the traditional coat of arms of the borough of Brecon.

Between the nave and the chancel is the wooden roof beneath the great tower. Springers in each top corner of the crossing indicate that a stone vault was originally intended here, as in the chancel. The top of the south eastern pier
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bears a time-worn human face mask: oddly the only medieval representation of a human face in the original building: all the other piers are topped with flowers or leaves.

In the walls above the ceiling of the crossing 13th century windows from the tower gallery let some light into the gallery, and provided surveillance of the church from above. Seen from outside, the tower, grand and plain, gives a castle-like appearance. The panoramic view from the top made it the perfect look-out tower over unsettled border roads and tracks below.

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THE NORTH TRANSEPT The transepts belong to the same Early English building period as the chancel, with similar slender lancet groups: but simpler, without the same depth. The North transept used to be known as the Battle Chapel, having previously been reserved for the inhabitants of the nearby settlement of Battle. It has a fine pair of arches separating it from the Havard chapel to the east. On the floor here are sepulchral slabs incised with crosses and trade emblems. Such gravestones were moved by Gilbert Scott from their original positions in the guild chapels which once occupied the aisles. The pattern of these foliated crosses was a speciality of local masons, symbolically showing the flowering life new life arising for the dead, as trees that look dead in winter come to life in the spring. More is said about these carvings in the next section. On the west wall of this transept, there is a series of white marble tablets in memory of members of the Watkins family of Penoyre House (which still exists a mile to the west). These are some of the finest work of the Brecon-born sculptor, John Evan Thomas; Thomas sculpted the statue of Wellington in the Bulwark; his other work includes the statue of Prince Albert in Tenby and several statures in the Houses of Parliament in London.

The 18th century organ, made by the firm of Henry Bevington, is moved around to make way for exhibitions: but it is usually on the east side of the transept; in 1923, it was given by Bishop Bevan from the family home in Hereford. Francis
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Kilverts diary for May 7th, 1872 describes a house party in Hay Castle, then occupied by the Bevans: All the young people, Bevans and Thomases and Lucy Allen gathered round the organ in the Castle hall and sung `Pilgrims of the Night and some other beautiful hymns . The Kilvert Society contributed to the restoration of the organ in 1972. The organ case dates from the mid 19thcentury.

The main organ was built in 1886 by William Hill & Sons; it was rebuilt in1931, 1973 and 1995 when an impressive fanfare trumpet was added. In 2006, six New digital stops were installed.

. A major appeal launched in 2003 secured the future of choral music in the Cathedral. The choir room is at the top of the stable block of the former Tower House next door. Its early 17th century timber roof trusses are intact.

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THE VANISHED MEMORIALS In 1925, another great Breconshire historian, Gwellian Morgan, the first Lady Mayor of Brecon and the first Friend of the Cathedral, published a monograph on the vanished tombs of the Cathedral. Until the 19th century, most citizens of note were buried within the walls of the church. Before the Reformation, effigies were laid on their backs (epitomized by the Awbrey tomb in the Havard Chapel) Hands were usually clasped in prayer for eternal life. After the Reformation, figures began to kneel or stand. There was often a fulsome curriculum vitae carved in to give the reasons why the deceased should be eligible for a place in Heaven. In the early 17th century, there were 16 life-size effigies in plaster, wood or stone. Before the Reformation, there was only one interment within the chancel, although elsewhere, priests were buried there. This one interment was that of Reginald de Breose, Lord of Brecknock, one of the early sponsors of the building. Parishioners were buried in the nave and side chapels; monks had their own cemetery to the east of the church and priors would have been buried in the vanished Chapter House, of which there is also no trace. Various travellers down the ages recorded monuments within the building: Thomas Churchyarde listed some of them in verse in 1587; lists were compiled by Richard Symonds in 1645 and Thomas Dineley in 1684. Theophilus Jones published a long list in his `History of the County of Brecknock in 1809; this list was much extended by Sir Joseph Russell Bailey in revised edition of Joness history of the County. The list takes fills over 40 pages of very small print. Only a fraction of the memorials therein listed can be traced today. By the time Jones and Bailey compiled their lists, interments of the 18th century had replaced many earlier stones. Early 18th century stones are notable for their fine raised lettering. Brecon had the peculiar practice of inserting strips of white marble to record later burials over re-used grave plots. During the 1860s and 1870s, Gilbert Scott lifted all the gravestones in order to lay a waterproof cement floor. Many gravestones were moved to the churchyard, or re-used randomly about the building: so that no body lies beneath the stone bearing his or her name. Scott re-used burial slabs for roof gutters, window-sills and staircases: including the staircase to the organ loft; a
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childs coffin lid was re-used for the credence table in St Keynes Chapel. Among the lost memorials is that to Hugh Price, the founder of Jesus College, Oxford, long regarded as `the Welsh College. The churchyard itself was lowered and levelled in 1896, so that there also, skeletons are not under the stones that commemorate them. The churchyard was closed in 1858; by then it was seriously over-crowded; in the 1830s and 1840s there had been an average of over 100 burials each year. After 1858, interments were made in the cemetery down the road: except for some of those families who already had brick-lined graves in the churchyard; Bishops later had their own burial ground established on the south side of the church. Within the church, there are few plain gravestones: the fashion for foliated crosses, regarded as the Cross of Glory, adorned with garlands, seems to have been initiated by a Brecon school of masons in the early 17th century; their design symbolises the branching of new life after death. Similar foliated crosses are found throughout mid- and south Wales, and in bordering English counties: the earliest of these, for example in Llywel and Llanhamlach, must have been carved by the same masons. Brecon Cathedral still has the finest collection of these tombs. Foliated crosses are common in England: but not with the densely packed leaves that characterize the Brecon style. A few tombstones bear the `IHS Christogram which suggest evidence of `closet Catholics in Brecon; the Chistogram is a shortened version of the name of Jesus in Greek script. This Christogram had been adopted by St Ignatius for the Jesuit movement; the Jesuit Christogram also bore at its centre three nails to represent the Crucifixion, and sometimes a pierced heart, with the whole surrounded by a sunburst. It is surprising to find, at the west end of the Havard Chapel and in the north side of St Keynes Chapel, this `Popish emblem in post-Reformation Britain. There is a well restored slab bearing the `IHS carving, now in the Heritage Centre. Back in the north transept, there is a memorial to John Taylor who died in 1618. That he was a tailor by profession as well as by name, is illustrated by the carving of pair of scissors on one side of the cross, with an iron on the other side; at the base of the stone, there is a carving of the Agnus Dei, the sacrificial Lamb of God bearing the banner of Resurrection: another `Popish emblem.

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Toleration of `Popish emblems in an Anglican church can be explained by the presence of powerful Catholic families in the area, particularly the Herberts and the Gunters. The Gunters of Abergavenny had a `secret chapel in the attic of their mansion there; this chapel was in fact semi-public. Missionary Jesuit priests, including local recusants like David Lewis, ministered to the Catholics of the surrounding area: allegedly drawing a larger attendance than the Priory Church up the road. St David Lewis the last Welsh martyr, was hanged in 1679. St David Lewis had been born in Abergavenny; he became a Jesuit after being trained and priested in Rome. He was twice Superior to the illegal Jesuit College that had been founded at the Cwm on the borders of Monmouthshire
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and Hereford. The Cwm, well hidden up a remote valley, consisted of several spacious houses; they had many entrances and extensive cellars; a tunnel ran into neighbouring woods where there were many caves: ideal hiding places for priests who travelled dangerously, in disguise, by night to say Mass in remote Catholic households. The arrival of a priest would be a day of great rejoicing. There remained a cluster of Catholics in the Senni valley which became known as `the Roman dingle, under the influence of the Havard family. Figures reported to the House of Lords committee in 1680, recorded 50 Catholics in Defynnog: out of a total of 250 in all Breconshire. Three other locally born priests who were hanged, drawn and quartered for their faith were later beatified by the Pope: Philip Powell from Trallong, John Lloyd and Philip Evans from Brecon. For 52 years, Mary and Margaret Thomas, members of a Catholic family gave shelter to priests in their house near the Watergate in Brecon. The installation of the rood in 2012 was the culmination of the process whereby we have by stages got back what had been lost; the chancel and high altar, still disused in early Victorian times, are again graced with a fine reredos; we now receive Communion in two kinds; we have the Reservation; we have sung Eucharist, incense, prayers for the dead, invocation to saints; there is an icon of the Blessed Virgin, beneath which we can light candles and say prayers for the sick and the dead; and more opportunities than ever to go on pilgrimages. THE HAVARD CHAPEL This eastern chapel was built in the mid 14th century, as was the corresponding, smaller St Lawrence Chapel extending from the south transept. These eastern chapels completed the form of the Church which has since had no basic structural addition: no Perpendicular additions. The Havard Chapel is so called because it was built on land owned by the Havard family, as their chantry chapel; the first Havards came with the Norman leader, Bernard de Neufmarche in 1093; there are still many Havards in mid-and South Wales (the phone book lists a dozen Havard families in the Brecon area, a dozen in the Swansea area and eight in Cardiff.) Curiously, only two remnants of early Havard memorials survive here, both in obscure locations: virtually inaccessible; a wall monument behind the altar bears the Havard crest of bulls heads, in memory of R.H., undated. The bulls also appear on a foliated memorial on the floor half way down the north side, between the wall and the pew ends. This is in memory of Lewis Havard, dated 1569. By that date, their chantry chapel must have been closed by the Protestant reformers: which may be one reason why the family became Roman Catholics.
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Below the photograph is Theophilus Joness drawing made of the tomb when the inscription was fully legible: Hic supultus est Lodovicus Havarde genitosus qui obit octo decimo die mensis Octobris 1569 cujus anime propititietur Deus.- Lewis Havarde gentleman is buried here who died on the eighteenth day of October 1569 upon whose soul may God have mercy The profile of the medieval double-gabled roof high on the west wall show that this area used to be two chapels: perhaps the Lady Chapel in its traditional position, and the Havard Chapel. After the Reformation, it seems to have been called the Vicars Chapel.

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. The chapels were combined into one in the 18th century, when wooden windows were inserted on the north side. In 1922 Sir Charles Nicholson formed here the memorial chapel of the 24th Regiment, the South Wales Borderers who for many years had their garrison in the Watton. (The number 24 proliferates round the chapel). The initial impulse, as recorded on the elegant memorial tablet was to honour the 5,466 offices and men from the Regiment who fell in the First World War; the actual figure was later estimated to be 5,777. Many visitors come to see the military memorials; and especially to see the of the Wreath of the Immortelles, everlasting flowers, presented to the

Regiment after the Battle of Iswandhlwana in the Zulu wars. Following the ensuing Battle of Rorkes drift, Queen Victoria presented the Regiment with nine Victoria crosses: the most ever given at any one time. Only ten out of nearly 600 men from the Regiment survived the Battle of Iswandhlwana, where they were outnumbered by ten to one. On either side of the chapel hang the Queens colours of the ten battalions belonging to the Regiment. The Regiment is remarkable for valiant service all over the globe; during the Peninsular War, it won unusual praise from Wellington: in my life, I never saw such an attack as was made by General Barnes brigade upon the enemy above Eschalar. It is
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impossible that I could extol too highly the conduct of General Barnes and these brave troops. Wellington was not given to such fulsome words; he, in turn, was admired in Brecon: hence his statue in the Bulwark. There is a separate leaflet giving further details about the memorials. The chapel has also the extremely rare survival of much-restored prereformation houseling benches in front of the altar. Parishioners would have stood before these benches (once higher and in the main nave) to receive the Sacrament.

In the north east corner of the chapel is the oldest tomb in the Cathedral, dated at 1312: the effigies of Walter and Christina Awbrey of Abercynrig; between their heads is a small rood. This is the earliest husband and wife monument in Wales. In the opposite corner there is a hagioscope or squint which would have enabled the monk at the altar of a side chantry chapel to synchronize his celebration of the Mass with that of the Prior at the High Altar. The surrounding elaborate archway is again covered in ballflowers: more Hereford work of around 1330. In 1809, Theophilus Jones recorded a wall monument here, similar in style and date to that in St Keynes Chapel, also with an effigy in stone.

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Each window on the south side depicts a patron saint of the United Kingdom: SS George, David, Patrick and Andrew. All the windows in the Chapel are the work of James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars; the east window which depicts the Annunciation is their masterpiece.

There is a separate leaflet giving details of the windows in the Cathedral. The altar piece is an original painting of the Baptism of Christ, the work of an early Baroque master, Alessando Albini from Bologna. The beautifully carved `English altar is characteristic of the work of Sir Charles Nicholson, under the influence of the Anglo-Catholic Percy Dearman and Ninian Comper who made this design fashionable.

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These are not really `English altars, but Renaissance Catholic ones; European painters of the 16th century show no other form of altar, with riddle posts and curtains; this design had been used in side chapels, but Percy Dearmer had the high altar of his church of St Mary, Primrose Hill, soon after his installation as vicar in 1901. Sir Ninian Comper went on to install them in the churches he designed or restored, including St Marys, Wellingborough, Wymondham Abbey, and St Cyprians. Clarence Gate and Ripon Cathedral (illustrated below)

. The pew-ends carry carvings to commemorate the service of the Regiment all over the world. The pews themselves were designed and fitted by Alban Caroe in 1959, in the light limed wood, as patented by by his father, W.D. Caroe.

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THE SOUTH TRANSEPT

Through the arch to the south side of the chancel, there hangs on the west wall one version of the famous painting of 1896: `Peace, by William Strutt (the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them ... [Isaiah 11:6,7]). Below it is the Llewellyn cupboard: it was made up in the 17 th century but decorated with earlier Flemish panels of about 1500, on the front. The panels came from Neath Abbey. They depict the Circumcision, the Flight into Egypt and the Adoration of the Magi: wonderfully detailed. Simpler panels below, probably by a different hand, depict the Coronation of the Virgin and a

Pieta.
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Behind, is the bronze effigy of our first Bishop, Edward Bevan who gave much of his personal fortune to the Cathedral from helping to buy up surrounding buildings in the Close, to providing electric lighting. The Cathedral still depends on his financial legacy. The effigy is by Goscomb John.

Behind the first pillar is Brian Bessants Byzantine-style icon of the Virgin:

See the later section under CAROE for details of the St Lawrence chapel in the south west corner. This transept used to be known as the Chapel of the Red-Haired Men and was the burial place for Norman families; what is seen now is a jumble of randomly
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re-laid dark floor slabs which contrast with the stately marble 18th and early 19th century wall memorials.

In the south-west corner is an archway leading to the newel stairs originally leading up to the monks dormitory, and still leading up to the tower, and a maze of passages and galleries. The wall-walk that would have been used by monks coming down from the dormitory for pre-dawn services can be seen at first floor level. Corbels in the top corner over the door must have supported a gallery. It seems likely that this was the original position of the cresset stone, so placed, it would have shed some light on the night stair, through an open door, and simultaneously on the wall walk. Candles would have perpetually been alight before the altar. At the end of the west wall is a somewhat sentimental monument designed by Flaxman: one figure holding a large cross over another in deep mourning; there are two severely classical monuments designed by Thomas Paty : one with a broken pediment and pilasters, in the style one would expect from the firm which built much of Georgian Bristol.

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Near the south-east corner is a recess with 13th century mouldings: it used to contain a piscina for a side chapel; the piscina is now in the St Lawrence Chapel further to the east. In the south-east corner there is a late medieval quartercircle oak cope chest of some rarity. Other such chests for the storing of vestments are found only in major churches such as York, Salisbury, Wells and Tewkesbury. The roof here, as elsewhere, was re-built by Scott in a utilitarian manner; the wood supports seem to be too thin, and too closely clustered.

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THE SOUTH AISLE This aisle is an almost total re-building of what Scott found in a ruinous state.

Only the archway from the transept is still pure Early English with moulded arches. On the right of the archway are memorials to the Maund family; John Maund is the first Brecon-born architect known by name; in 1805 he designed the arsenal of the Barracks in the Watton, now the military Museum. There is no record of what Andrew designed, but the monument suggests a man of some standing in the town.

The refectory tables under the south wall are good examples of local carpentry. At the west end of the south aisle is a ver fine alabaster memorial to Sir David Williams of Gwernyfed, near Glasbury where his splendid Jacobean house still stands.

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He became Justice of the Court of Kings bench as well as being recorder and M.P. for Brecon. He died in 1613; his judges ermine robes shine now, as if he has been stroked by venerating pilgrims. Traces of red pigment show that his robes were originally painted. The folds of his legal gown above his feet seem an impossible achievement of sculpturing in hard alabaster. He must have paid heavily to have a memorial in the chancel (where it obscured the sedilia); in 1862 Scott dismantled the canopied tomb and moved it to the Havard Chapel. When that became the Borderers Memorial Chapel, Caroe moved it to its present position. The surviving Corinthian capitals lying around the tomb suggest what the original canopy on pillars would have looked like; Caroe was not allowed funds to reconstruct the canopy which Scott had dismantled. Thus, having paid to be buried up at the holy end, Williams ended up at the least holy part of the building. Aesthetically, the removal of the monument was no bad thing: the chancel must have been extremely cluttered, with the stack of Games effigies filling the north side, the Williams effigy filling the south side, among memorials to other local gentry. The Williams memorial plaque is in Latin. However, nearly all the memorials within the Cathedral and in the churchyard are in English not Latin or Welsh. Brecon is just on the language border: ten miles to the west in Sennybridge (Pont Senni), Welsh is commonly spoken; you dont hear it much in Brecon. VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN RESTORATION 1.GILBERT SCOTT The present internal appearance of the Cathedral is largely owing to Gilbert Scott; it is not at all as the medieval builders left it. During the 18th century, St Johns like most churches suffered from grievous neglect. Lead had been stripped from the nave roof: so that a woman, and later a boy hunting bats, fell
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through the rotten timbers. Owls, bats and jackdaws nested in roofs and had ready access into the church. Stones from the monastery building became a useful quarry for house-building. The church walls on the south were invisible under the ivy; windows had been boarded up. A convenient sandstone statue, thought to depict Brychan, was in general use for sharpening knives (a remnant of this is in the Heritage Centre). Purbeck marble columns were found to be helpful in timber-rolling. By the mid 19th century, the relative comfort of dissenting chapels lured the congregation away from the extreme dampness and cold of the church; conditions there, according to the curate, endangered the health of the venturesome few remaining adherents of the established church. Moreover, the Welsh Methodist movement was so strong, that by the middle of the 19th century, Wales, which had resisted the Protestant Reformation, had become effectively a Nonconformist country. The then vicar of Brecon, Rev. Garnon-Williams, summed it up thus: anything more melancholy than the state of the church before restoration could scarcely be conceived. Fortunately, at this time, the impulse of the Oxford Movement led by Newman, Pusey and Keble, with Gothic Revival architects, led by Pugin revived interest in solemn liturgical worship. Celebration of the Eucharist became at least a weekly rather than an occasional event. In 1860 a public meeting was held in the Shire Hall to consider the restoration of the Priory Church. Lord Camden promised to pay for the restoration of the chancel; a public fund was set up to pay for the restoration of the nave. Gilbert Scott was to be employed; he submitted his report in November of that year, repeating the vicars judgement that the present state of this noble structure is melancholy in the extreme. The restoration of the chancel, tower, transepts and Havard chapel was completed by 1862. His first report stated that the great object of restoration work was conservation; he said that he would reject all conjectural work and return it to its 14th century appearance: we do not wish to smarten it up and make it look like a new church; we wish to hand it down to future generations as a genuine work of ancient art. The less of new work we have to insert the better. His work may be judged by his own criteria. He proceeded to build a brand new vault of yellow, not local purple stone, over the chancel. His argument was that the springers for an intended vault existed in the 13th century walls (as they still exist over the crossing). Robert Scourfields close examination of the vault-shafts revealed that these springers were after-thoughts, cutting across the heads of the adjacent lancets. Scotts new vault is impressive, and would grace a London Tube station; here, it conceals the fine 15th century carved wooden roof which still exists above his vault; he should have restored it, according to his own tenets. In 1853, Dr
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Freeman, writing in `Archaeologia Cambrensis admired the decorative wooden roof which had clearly been designed to last, not to be a substitute for the intended vault. In 2012, Richard Suggett, for the Royal Commission, entered the roof space to photograph the original painted and finely carved roof; his images correspond to drawings made of the roof before Scotts intervention. Moreover, Scotts vault is in the French style, in which the stones lie straight east to west, instead of radiating from the centre in the English/Welsh manner; there is no central ridge rib. The conjectural vault obviously means that the chancel is much lower than that of the original church. The ribs of the vault upset the purity of the Early English lancets below. Scott restored the transept walls to their original pitch and gave them conventional timber roofs. He re-laid all the floors on a bed of concrete, to prevent rising damp; the transepts had previously just had floors of bare earth like a barn, except for stone monuments. All the ancient floor monuments from the chancel and transepts were dug up; some were re-laid where they would best fit on the concrete bed; many were removed to the west end of the Church. As mentioned above, few of the 700 epitaphs recorded by Thomas Dineley during his visit with the Duke of Beaufort in 1684 were salvaged; Scott ejected four white marble slabs in memory of Thomas Cokes father and his two wives, as well as a fine tablet by J.E. Thomas to Dr Coke himself; this was found lying on the floor, and was moved to Wesleyan Chapel in the town. (Dr Cokes Chapel was was demolished in the 1990s and the tablet, it seems, went with it: such homage did Brecon pay to its most famous pastor and sculptor). Scott likewise threw out our now famous cresset stone which was later dug up in a local garden. Over the concrete in the chancel, Scott laid Godwins encaustic tiles, made at Lugwardine, such as the Marquis of Camden had admired in the newly restored Hereford Cathedral. The pattern of the tiles was in every instance taken from the originals in Hereford. An anonymous layman furnished the choir with stalls for 12 canons. Scott scraped all the lime wash from the walls of the nave (he was known as `the great scraper): so the church is much darker than the medieval church (which would have had less stained glass). He restored the lost mullions and tracery of the Havard chapel, on the model of those in the aisles. In the 18th century, the original low twin gabled roofs had been replaced by a lean-to roof which blocked part of the glorious chancel windows. Instead of reinstating the medieval design as he had promised, Scott also gave the Chapel only one high gable. The original low gabled roofs rested below the chancel windows, allowing light to flood in over the top of the Havard chapel. As can be seen in the top part of the south east corner of the chapel, Scott retained and extended the solid wall between the Chapel and the chancel: thereby insensitively blocking for good some of the Early English lancet windows on the
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north side, as well as removing all the wall monuments. As early as 1809, Theophilus Jones had condemned the villainous lean-to of the Havard Chapel... of comparatively late erection. Scott had the tomb of Sir David Williams dismantled and moved from the chancel to the Havard chapel thus revealing the sedilia and piscinae. However, he did not replace the pillared canopy over the Williams monument; Corinthian capitals still lying about the tomb indicate how it used to look. As the later Garnons-Williams, also the Vicar of Brecon, pointed out, Scott failed to provide an adequate central focus: the new altar table is scarcely large and prominent enough for its exalted position and unworthy of the spacious and dignified chancel. In the early 20th century, Rev. Percy Dearmer wrote: It is a melancholy reflection that the men who sought most devotedly to restore our English churches to their pristine glory were the very men who, in the end, completed the destruction of their character. Worst of all, the central feature of the church, the altar, was distorted out of all knowledge. 1874, parishioners, had raised sufficient funds for the restoration of the nave and aisles; this campaign was led by next vicar, the indefatiguable Prebendary Herbert Williams and a layman, Richard Cobb. The stained glass of the great west window is a fitting memorial to Herbert Williams. Cobb has an equally fitting wall memorial recess close to the lectern, and another in the lychgate which his family built

. Scott was recalled; he found the nave a mass of deformity and proceeded to set his own stamp on it; he completed his work in 1874-5. This involved a reordering of the church in line with the liturgy of the Oxford Movement: so that the focus would be the altar, not the pulpit. High-backed box pews, raised on another floor of wood, were removed; the floor was lowered by three feet, to reveal the bases of the columns, and to ensure that the congregation had to look up to the High Altar in the approved way. He removed former partitions including the 16th century wooden screen across the entrance to the chancel. He moved this to screen the Havard Chapel; later, a section of it was moved
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again to form the present screen of St Keynes chapel. He took away a glass partition that had been inserted by Henry Wyatt in 1836 at the end of the nave, to render the nave habitable. He also removed the early c19 century gallery that Wyatt had erected across the south transept: so that now the church was open to view from west to east and from north to south. It was fundamental to the Oxford Movement that nothing should come between the eye of the worshipper and the altar. In the 18th and early 19th century, the eyes of the congregation had been focussed on the pulpit. The side windows of the Havard Chapel and of the south aisle are all his, based in style on those of the north aisle; the south side wall had formerly been a solid wall, in order to support the monks cloister on the outer side. Scott removed a late 18th century plaster ceiling from the nave, and restored the late 16th century rotten timber roof above with such improvements as may suggest themselves. (i.e. it was `Gothicized by the introduction of trefoil pointed arches).

Scott failed to stabilize the tower which was on the verge of collapse by 1914. He Scott placed an Early English 13th century style inner doorway into the 14th century porch. Finally, he lowered the churchyard which had been raised to window level by great numbers of burials on top of each other. He renewed the walls of the churchyard and fitted a new gate. Unlike W.D. Caroe, Scott did not
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spend much time in Brecon and the restoration was left to his clerk of works. It was thus in St Marys Priory Church in Abergavenny: Scott drew designs for its nave and west end, but left Thomas Nicholson of Hereford in charge of the actual building. Scott had recommended our Church of St John the Evangelist in Brecon to the Cathedral Commissioners as most worthy to be the Cathedral for the proposed the new diocese of central Wales: however, this did not come about for another 50 years. Far from fulfilling his promise to restore the Church to its 14th century appearance, Scott left what looked like a Victorian church; it could be argued that over-eager Victorian restorers did nearly as much damage to the fabric of medieval churches as did Henry VIII and Cromwell. 2. THE CAROE DYNASTY W.D. Caroe, having already worked on the Church, become the first Cathedral architect from 1923 until his death in 1938; he was succeeded by his son, Alban Caroe; Alban in turn was succeeded by Martin Caroe who died in 1999. W.D. Caroe has been educated in Wales and was much more sensitive than Scott to local styles; in 1908, he had found the Church of St Issui at Partrishow on the verge of collapse. His restoration of its now famous screen was so good that the untrained eye cannot distinguish the original from Caroes insertions. Caroe spent much time investigating the early history of St Johns in close detail and published learned articles about it in Archaeologia Cambrensis. In 1931, he lectured to the Friends of the Cathedral on its architectural history. Meanwhile, he built a new church at Llangammarch Wells, and restored many other Welsh churches. He and was architect to numerous ecclesiastical buildings including the Cathedrals of St Davids and Durham and the abbeys of Tewkesbury and Romsey. As architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners based in London, he had pervasive influence for sensitive restoration. Cathedral status gave the impulse for further restoration and re-ordering. Caroe rebuilt the ruinous south west chapel, dedicated to St Lawrence; he fitted the oak reredos. He designed the doorway with its Caernarvon arch from the Chapel to the sacristry. His carved oak reredos was a memorial to Wilfred de Winton who largely paid for the Chapel; the scene depicted in the reredos has been variously interpreted: as Christ casting out the money-lenders from the Temple; or as Christ, rising from the Tomb, telling the holy women not to touch him: `Noli Me Tangere. The pews of light limed oak with delicately carved tops are a hallmark of Caroes work. The east window of the St
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Lawrence Chapel, designed by Powells depicts the Adoration of the Magi; the window was given by Sir Walter Vaughan Morgan in memory of his parents. He was the only Breconshire man to have become Lord Mayor of London. The kneeling figure on the right is probably a portrait of Sir Walter: this being the traditional placing of donors in medieval windows.He looks distinctly Edwardian. The window frame and mullions are older, having been moved from the south transept.

Caroes vault in the St Lawrence Chapel is designed in the Early English manner, using local sandstone in radiating blocks (unlike Scotts yellow stone, Frenchstyle chancel vault.) The two-light window to the south records that the Chapel was built for the Church of England Mens Society, in memory of Bishop Bevan who had been chairman of that Society; since 1993, it has been the chapel of the Mothers Union.... In Victorian times, St Keynes Chapel had been fitted out for the private devotions of women. The segregation of the sexes in opposite sides of the church was to prevent members of the congregation from using the services for courtship: then, the church was the only public place where you could guarantee seeing respectable members of the opposite sex; a poem of Thomas Hardy records how his mother was attracted by his father in Stinsford Church: She turned again; and in her prides despite One strenuous viols inspirer, seemed to throw A message from his string to her below, Which said, `I claim thee as my own forthright! Thus their hearts bond began...
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Caroe rebuilt the tower which Scott had neglected; he found it riddled with passages and stairways; moreover, the south wall had separated itself from the rest; unfortunately, his elaborate scheme for `stitching interior walls with concrete beams to hold the walls together did not last. This failure, and Scotts neglect, rebounded on the Caroe firm at the end of the 20th century when again the tower defeated them and the job was handed over to Dr Worsley of Dolgellau, as the new Cathedral architect. Anyone who stands on the top of the tower in a high wind must wonder however it stays up at all, especially when all ten bells are being rung. Caroe successfully reconstructed Scotts nave roof; Scott had used sap wood which had perished in places. Scotts guttering from the nave parapet also failed, saturating the walls. Caroe put in a new parapet gutter, gargoyles and fine lead rainwater heads: the latter being another of his hall-marks. Thus the nave roof had to be stripped again, and tiles re-laid. In 1931, Caroe designed the loft and case for the superb William Hill organ. This involved inserting concrete-cased steel girders. The organ console was moved down to its present position at ground level by Alban Caroe: thus making it easier for the then organist and choirmaster to control the choirboys without having to hurl hymn books at them from the organ loft as, allegedly, had happened. Subsequently, the organ was re-built, again restored and extended in 1973, 1995 and 2006). Caroe re-floored and re-furbished the former priests room over the north porch as a muniment room for storage of archives and musical scores; many other details are his, visible and invisible, including the sturdy oak stand for the cresset stone. In 1925, properties on the monastic site to the south and east of the Church came back into its possession. Caroe immediately started work fashioning the grounds and buildings into a worthy setting for the Cathedral: so that Brecon became the only cathedral in Wales to have a distinct Close of its own. (The houses round Llandaff Green are mostly occupied by the laity and the Green itself belongs to Cardiff City Council). Ingeniously, Caroe turned the then ruinous Tower House stables into vestries, with a top-lit choir room above. He retained, under the stairs, what was left of the Tower House stables, and built in capacious limed oak cupboards. He rebuilt the ruinous tower, and carefully restored on the east side of the second floor a 14th century window, with cusped tracery. Beyond that, to the south, partly on the site of the Abbots Hall, Caroe re-built the Canonry, now the Deanery; he retained the mullioned and transomed windows that had belonged to the secular house built here in the late 17th century. It is a tribute to Caroes sensitivity that no-one passing can easily tell which are the original 17th century windows and which windows were inserted by Caroe to suit the new internal arrangements.
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He turned the service wing of the Priory House into the present Clergy House, now the home of the Minor Canon. The Priory House itself had been the home of the de Winton family; Wilfred de Winton was a prominent lay churchman who wanted to return the former priory buildings to the Church. He paid largely to the conversion of his house into a Deanery and Chapter House; the latter included the Library, to which he donated books and engravings. In 1983, this Deanery was converted into the Cathedral Centre and later into the Diocesan Centre, so that the diocese could be managed from Brecon. The Centre was formally opened by the Queen; the ensuing reception was held in the room that has since been called the Queens Room. On the north side of the Close, Caroe rebuilt the Almonry, now the home of the Succentor. Almonries were traditionally built near the monastery gate for the convenience Of giving alms to the needy.

He rebuilt the wall around the close, preserving the ruinous gateway:

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He restored the tithe barn with its engaging gargoyles and wooden mullioned windows, facing Priory Hill. The new barn for hay had been built within an angle of the precinct walls in the 1520s.

These sensitive restorations complete the most agreeable informal group. In all this work, he retained such medieval and 18th century fittings as had survived; and bestowed great care on the design of new joists, corbels, furnishings, quarry tile floors, fireplaces, chimneys, doors and their surrounds. Most external doors, as in the Cathedral itself, were fitted with Caroe latches (his own patented invention and still the easiest latch for opening heavy doors).

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Demolished when they became vacant, to open up the Cathedral vista on that side. A thanksgiving service to dedicate the precincts was held on 7th October, 1927. Our debt to Caroes genius and inspiration is enormous; there should be a memorial to him in the Cathedral precinct. His final design for the Cathedral was the magnificent stone reredos set up in 1937, in memory of Bishop Bevan; thus the Cathedral acquired its focal point. Scotts altar had been too insignificant, and paid no homage to Welsh craftsmanship. Caroes general design corresponds to the 15th century reredos of St Illtuds church at Llantwit Major: an elaborately carved stone screen in which the central carving of the Crucifixion is surrounded by niches for statues of Biblical and local holy men; panels at the base, left and right, beautifully depict the Annunciation and the two Maries at Christs tomb. In 1905, Caroe had restored the Llantwit reredos. He had likewise restored the wooden rood screens at Partrishow and Llanfilo. The four intricately worked towers of the Cathedral reredos resemble these screens in style. These towers are carefully aligned to the mullions of the east window. Doors to the left and right of the reredos were intended to lead to a large treasury, to be built into the back, as they did at Llantwit Major; Caroe sent drawings for the treasury a fortnight before his death in 1938. It turned out to be his last design he ever made: never, alas, executed. The reredos itself is one of the last pieces of pure Gothic Revival work in Britain.

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Alban and Martin had W.D.s consuming interest and sensitivity, but not his available funds or opportunities; Alban, like his father, wished in vain to reinstate a hanging rood: so that had to wait until 2012. His completion of Bishops throne had to be a somewhat mean affair. Under the Deans orders, in 1941, he moved Scotts choir stalls from the chancel to their present position under the tower: an unwise move, since the wooden roof absorbs sound instead of reflecting it; thus, choristers on one side cannot hear what choristers on the other side are singing. The removal of the choir stalls left an unsightly gap in the floor of encaustic tiles made by Godwin of Lugwardine; the Earl of Camden had seen such tiles in the choir of Hereford, and instructed Scott to order similar ones for Brecon. Thus, the Godwin tiles were thrown out, and replaced by the present plain stone slabs. A few Godwin tiles survive in the sanctuary around the altar. Of necessity, Alban Caroe moved the pulpit down from the north-eastern pier of crossing to its present position in front of the choir stalls. The space under the tower had formerly contained pews for the congregation.) Alban Caroe added the flat-roofed fuel store (with a Caroe latch on the door) tucked out of sight outside the south west corner; he inserted tactful radiator recesses for the new heating system. In 1963, Alban and Martin Caroe, by then partners in the firm (and engaged in the wonderful restoration of the west front of Wells
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from 1974-1986) designed the oak screen at the entrance to St Keynes Chapel, to match the old screen between the Chapel and the nave; it was paid for by Mrs Margaret Kirkland of Swansea, a former Court member of the Cordwainers Guild. On either side of the entrance are two plaques; one bears a goats head, the traditional emblem of the Cordwainers; the other depicts tools of the trade: a hammer, awl, nails and knife. THE CHURCHYARD French visitors like to see the tomb of Capitaine Francois Husson, a French officer who died in Brecon when he was one of 86 open prisoners during the Napoleonic wars (1799-1815). Brecon was then one of the `parole towns in which captured French officers were allowed to live more or less normal lives, provided they did not stray further than a mile from the town centre; the chosen parole towns were in remote areas far from sea ports. His monument, beside the path to the Pendre, suggests that he was a well-liked figure in the town. The tombstone was erected in 1810 by the townspeople of Brecon, with the inscription: `By Foreign hands his Humble Grave adornd/ By Strangers honourd and by Strangers mourned.

. Thus, it seems, the citizens ecumenically buried a Roman Catholic in an Anglican churchyard. The crossing avenue of lime trees leading to the priory groves is an ancient right of way: once beloved by Henry Vaughan, the Swan of Usk: now beloved by local dog-owners who leave less poetic evidence. The south east corner between the transept and the nave provides a fitting burial ground for Bishops. Work of maintaining the Cathedrals fabric and altering it to suit new requirements continues. Much work has been achieved in the last 30 years; as
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mentioned above, the old Deanery was fitted out as the Diocesan Centre and the former Canonry became the Deanery in 1968. The 800th anniversary of the church in 1993 gave the impulse for further developments; previous estimates for re-hanging the bells in the tower had been too expensive. Now, funds were found; until 1995, there had only been 5 bells, the two largest of which were cracked. The metal from the cracked bells was used towards a casting of seven new bells, thus creating a ring of ten bells. A new frame was fitted, with cast iron braces and a galvanized steel frame heads. The new frame had to be placed in the north-west corner of the bell-chamber, because of the great span of the tower, and structural weakness in the south wall. Part of the old frame was decayed, where water had flowed down the flagpole. The first official ring of the ten bells was made on 7 May, 1995: after a service of thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of VE day. Thus, bells rang out again after a silence of 175 years. The old frame may be seen in the Heritage Centre, with reproductions of the old bells held from repaired fittings. The bells, old and new, are inscribed with the names of their donors. Above the soundbow of the treble: I RING FOR THE FRIENDS OF BRECON CATHEDRAL.

. The 14th century frame was moved to the Heritage Centre, with reproductions of the old bells, held from repaired fittings.

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The Heritage Centre itself was converted out of the old tithe barn which had for years been used for stables, then garages. Along with the Pilgrims Restaurant next door, it was formally opened in 1996. In 1999, flood-lighting was introduced, so that the tower shines like a beacon over the district (including the A40 by-pass) at night. In 2002, new chairs replaced Victorian pews, providing comfortable seats for concerts, and adding warm red colour to the nave. In 2005, new lighting was installed within the Cathedral, including illumination of the Caroe reredos which had previously been inconspicuous on dark days and at night. In 2007-2008, all the interior walls of the east end were splendidly restored with rain-resistant lime plaster; the old plaster in the transepts had bubbled and flaked; walls of the chancel had at some point been painted with inappropriate oil-based paint. In 2010, leaking dormer windows of the Choir Room were replaced. Cathedral camps now help, every summer, among other things, to control vegetation in the churchyard. A group of volunteers keep the gardens spick and span through the year. The Cathedral, its surrounding buildings and grounds can never have looked finer than they do now. Owing to this recent care, and above all owing to Caroes sensitive restoration of the Close, the Cathedral and its adjoining buildings comprises one of the most agreeable and complete groups of ecclesiastical buildings in Wales. However, all this work has emptied our coffers; unlike English cathedrals, we do not charge for entry or photography. Thus, gifts from visitors who can afford it are enormously appreciated: especially if placed in the gift-aid envelopes provided.

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(Text written by Richard Camp, who is alone responsible for errors and omissions; numerous people have helped with information and allowed the use of their photographs, including especially the Royal Commission, Dr Madelaine Gray, Sue Hasker, Nick Kaye and Rex Harris.) Selected Bibliography

Adams, Bernard Typescript of the first guide for Welcomers. n.d. Davies, John Brecon Cathedral Official Guide 4th edition, 2008 Eisel, John C. The Church Bells of Breconshire Logaston Press, 2002 Freeman, Jennifer W.D. Caroe: his architectural achievement Manchester University Press, 1990 Gwynne-Jones Brecon Cathedral 1093-1537 Brycheiniog 1992 Hughes, T.J. Waless One Hundred Best Churches Seren 2006 Jones, Theophilus History of the County of Brecknock, enlarged by Sir Joseph Russell Bailey, 1900 Lewis, Michael R. From Darkness to Light: the Catholics of Breconshire Old Bakehouse Publications, 1992 Morgan, Gwenllian Brecon Cathedral 8th edition, 1935 Morgan, Gwenllian The Vanished Tombs of Brecon Cathedral. Archaeologia Cambrensis 1925 Royal Commission The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist. Published by the Friends of Brecon Cathedral to mark the 900th Anniversary, 1994 Scourfield, Robert & Haslam, Richard Buildings of Wales: Powys Yale University Press 2013 Wheeler, Richard The Medieval Church Screens of the Southern Marches, Logaston Press, 2006 Walker, David Brecon Priory in the Middle Ages (Swansea & Brecon Historical Essays) Christopher Davies, 1974

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