St David's Church, Llanddew

 P.S.  I keep forgetting to tell you that from no nests of House Martins, one pair were finally able enough to find enough wet mud to build a nest on the East of the house, and their young have just fledged.  Each morning in the bathroom, I am less than a foot away from them as they fly loops and soar in the air, and then swoop back under the eaves.  They have even been building fresh nests on the sites of old ones, but these haven't come to much.  They bring me such joy.

My route back from Merthyr last week took me back through Brecon, so I decided to visit St David's Church at Llanddew again.  It was several years since we were last there.  There had been a castle, and a Bishop's Palace, although the latter was ruinous by the 17th C, and there is still Bishop Gower's Well opposite the church.  Gerald of Wales also lived in Llandew, as he was Archdeacon of Brecon from 1175 - 1203. 

This was an early Christian clas and Eluned, one of King Brychan's many children, was said to have taken refuge here in 500 AD.  The current church dates from the 13th C but by the mid-19th C the building was ruinous and was almost completely restored by Ewan Christian.  I have to say, it didn't have that feel of ancient worship as do some of the churches I visit.

Inside the porch, remnants of Norman stonework, but one wonders just how much was lost.

The font is medieval on a more modern base.

I can't find out which family this is the heraldic symbol for.  Suggestions on a postcard please . . .

I couldn't get a clearer photo of this one, as using my useless mobile camera.  A lion on one side, and another animal, and waves beneath?

Then Coflein tells us what we have lost:

According to Davies (1873) there was a now destroyed blackletter paternoster, probably dating to the sixteenth or seventeenth century. It was described as '...on the north wall were portions of the Lord's Prayer in Welsh, the characters and spelling clearly pointing to a period not much later, if any, than that in which the Bible was translated into the Welsh language..'. There was also a fresco of an angel described as '...on the intersection of the south transept, just above the squint, were found the faded remains of a well executed fresco of an angelic form...'

A stoop near the altar.  There is another in the porch I think.

No great blaze of stained glass behind the altar, just these three simple lancet windows.

I missed the Leper squints in the walls.  I always miss something in a church!

Right, 5.15 a.m. now.  Perhaps I can get back to sleep . . .  Update: I did, despite ice cold feet and Pippi yelling in my ear that it was Gone 7 a.m. and was I EVER going to Get Up?  I woke after 8, with her keeping my feet warm - which is really unusual for her, as she always snuggles into my chest.