St Illtyd's Church

St Illtyd’s Church stands in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, on ground once home to the earliest college in Britain. The Normans rebuilt the present church in the 11th century on the site of St Illtud’s 6th-century wooden school. Parts of the building were raised again in the 13th and 15th centuries, giving the church its unusual two-chapel shape. It is classed as a Grade I listed building and is widely regarded as one of the finest parish churches in Wales. The complex includes a 13th-century gatehouse, a monks’ dovecote, and ruined walls in the churchyard garden. The church holds the largest collection of early medieval stones and effigies in Wales, earning it the nickname ‘Westminster Abbey of Wales’. Among its treasures are medieval priest effigies, a curfew bell, and a 9th-century inscription to King Rhys ap Arthfael. Wall paintings survive, including a 15th-century St Christopher and early 17th-century Royal Standard of King James. The Galilee Chapel, rebuilt in 2013, now serves as a visitor centre for the Celtic crosses found on the site. Visitors walk between the West Chapel, the oldest part in Romanesque style, and the taller East Chapel with its squints and stone benches. The Galilee Chapel houses displays of the carved stones, while the gatehouse and dovecote add to the quiet enclosure. The churchyard contains war graves from the two world wars, and mounds near the vicarage mark earlier earthworks.