Llandaff Cathedral

We loved visiting this cathedral! It had a chapel dedicated to the Royal Regiment of Wales/ Welsh regiment formed in 1969 and this is the regiment my husband served in. It costs £1500 per day to keep the cathedral running so they do ask for donations and we certainly contributed. It is a beautiful cathedral and worth visiting. Sadly people have vandalized many of the marble effigies. The stained glass windows are beautiful. The organ immense. The cathedral has several small chapels in it including the RRW chapel and the Mary Chapel. Visit and support this wonderful cathedral and piece of Welsh history! A short walk from the cathedral are wonderful hiking trails.

Such a beautiful cathedral and lovely staff. It was free to enter, and we took plenty of pictures inside. We utilized the bus to get here and back to Cardiff Castle area and it was easy enough to understand with the help of Google Maps. There was also a cute little gift shop inside if you were inclined.

Restoration and alteration of Llandaff Cathedral, 1949-1963 by George Pace. Llandaff cathedral is an important medieval and later building. My visit was specifically to look at the work by George Pace in the rebuilding and re-roofing following extensive war damage. Pace had little previous work when he was awarded this major project to succeed Sir Charles Nicholson as the cathedral architect. Most architects, when they get the first major job of their career, would tend to be careful, but Pace produced some of his most radical architecture and intervention. Pace set four principles for his repair and restoration at Llandaff, which are explained in full in Peter Pace's book, in summary; A - Ancient work and Pritchard's 19th century restoration, where it had survived to be carefully conserved. B - New work to make good destroyed parts to be clearly and legibly 20th century, but also to integrate with the cathedral in appearance and character C - everything to be under the aesthetic control of the architect, D - every part of the cathedral, every intervention, to be a work of art in itself, entire cathedral to be a complete offering to God. These principles would not be surprising now but quite forward looking for 1949. Pace did not agree with previous assessment of the building as being an overgrown parish church. He found that the qualities, particularly in the nave arcade, to be of high quality and worth celebrating. He also highly rated the Pritchard work, including the west tower, which he considered to be a major monument of the Gothic Revival. Pace's contribution started with the nave roof, which was different to Prichard's open timber roof and but similar to the roof that Nicholson had proposed. Pace's response was based On Nicholson's drawings. The intervention that everybody knows at Llandaff is the pulpitum. The pulpitum is often roundly criticized when it is posted on sites like this. I can see that it is surprisingly shocking for the 1950s. There is nothing so audacious at Coventry, for instance. I would not like this to happen in all churches but in this one it is wonderful. In the past, the pulpitum would have been a stone screen at the junction between the choir and the nave. The medieval Llandaff Cathedral had a pulpitum. But this was not rebuilt during Pritchard's restoration. Pace felt that the lack of architectural definition between nave and chancel was the factor that made Llandaff lack the atmosphere of a cathedral. Pace's idea was to produce a new form of pulpitum, a 20th century structure, which is an object rather than a screen. He pointed out that it is traditional to be modern. Each phase of a gothic cathedral built in the style of its time. He took particular inspiration from an 18th century print of Gloucester Cathedral, which had a stone pulpitum. Pace's early schemes for this are quite like a Comper ciborium with what he called a "proper sized" organ on top. The design took four years to develop, including full size plywood mock ups. I think the design is an extraordinary synthesis of a screen which locates the altar, but also keeps the full east views through the Romanesque arch to the Lady chapel beyond. Set onto the pulpitum is the magistas - similar to a traditional rood figure but with Christ, not defeated, but reigning. Pace suggested that Jacob Epstein was the only sculptor, who could realise his vision. Epstein responded, to Pace's inquiry to say that it was the was the greatest thing he had been asked to do, and he was sure that it would result in a in a great act of faith. As with Pace, Epstein was particularly impressed with the 13th century arcade and design of the nave.

It's set in a leafy edge of Cardiff, hidden in a dip to hide it from threats from the sea. It was the second worst damaged cathedral after Coventry, during the war with a parachute mine landing in the cemetery next to the nave and causing damage to the nave and other parts but was restored to its current form. Inside is peaceful with memorials and a chapel dedicated to the armed services. Lovely stained glass and the famous Majestas that stands in the middle of the nave. Little shop with bits and pieces and guide books. Also helpful volunteers on hand to share the history of the cathedral with

Beautiful Cathedral. Very well maintained. Free to enter. Allowed to take pictures so long as it is not during services due to data protection. Little shop inside. You can also light a candle. Free parking nearby. Unfortunately, I could not see a wheelchair/pram accessible entrance.