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Archbishop of Canterbury opens St Teilo's Church at St Fagans: National History Museum

In 1998 St Fagans: National History Museum began the challenging work of moving, rebuilding and refurbishing a stone-built medieval church – one of the first projects of its kind to be attempted in Europe. On Sunday 14 October 2007 this building – St Teilo’s church from Pontarddulais, West Wales – was officially opened by the Most Reverend Dr Rowan Williams at the open-air museum near Cardiff.

In a special ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, guests, including representatives of religions from across Wales, celebrated Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’s achievements in moving and re-erecting the Church, fondly called ‘the old church on the marsh.’ It was offered to the Museum when it began to fall into rapid decay and attempts to restore the building were hampered by subsidence, periodic flooding and its remote location.

St Teilo’s Church served Llandeilo Tal-y-bont for some 800 years and became a local landmark. However, the building ceased functioning as the parish church in 1852 when a new church, also named St Teilo’s, was built in nearby Pontarddulais. The old church was used for burials and occasional services but even these finished in 1973 and it fell into disrepair.

Moving the building stone by stone from the banks of the River Loughor to the Museum’s 100-acre site, St Fagans’ masons, carpenters and painters have uniquely re-built and decorated the church as it may have looked in the 1520s. This decision was made primarily because of a set of extremely rare wall paintings, dating from this period, which were found at the site when dismantling the building.

“In her medieval form, the Church will be a revelation to everyone and will offer an insight to part of our country’s hidden history” said Reverend John Walters, Vicar of the new St Teilo’s Church, Pontarddulais. “The building was a part of the area’s religious and social history and very close to the hearts of the people of the region.”

First Minister Rhodri Morgan is one of the people who has fond memories of the Church:

“I am pleased Amgueddfa Cymru has been able to rescue what was much more than a building in Pontarddulais. Many people have personal connections with St Teilo’s Church including myself; my great, great grandparents were one of the very last couples to get married there. Following my great, great-grandmother’s death in childbirth, my great, great grandfather remarried in the new Pontarddulais church in what was the first marriage in that church. That signified better than any dry statistic how Wales changed from a predominantly rural society to an urban one. 

“I have watched the incredible skills of the restoration team who have reconstructed the building and saved the frescoes. This is a stunning addition to the treasure trove of Welsh history contained in St Fagans.” 

All surviving original materials have been used and any missing items researched and replicated by experts to make the Church as authentic as possible. The building includes a new hand-carved rood screen and the walls are covered in paintings, which are replicas of those found on site.

Paul Loveluck, President of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales believes it will become an icon at St Fagans as, during the reconstruction work, it has already become one of the Museum’s most popular attractions. He said:

“Our craftsmen from the Museum’s Historic Buildings Unit used the same tools, materials and techniques as were employed hundreds of years ago to re-create a church that has already attracted thousands of people to St Fagans. For the first time, visitors have been able to witness the process of re-building first hand, gaining access to parts of the Church and speaking to those involved in the work.

“Some churches have been re-erected at museums on the continent, the vast majority being timber-built, whereas this building is of solid masonry construction” continued Mr Loveluck. “The reconstruction of St Teilo’s Church is certainly one of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’s most ambitious projects to date.”

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

Entry to each museum is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

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For more information, interview or photograph opportunities please contact Catrin Mears, Communications Officer, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales on (029) 2057 3486 / 07920 027067 or e-mail catrin.mears@museumwales.ac.uk.