St Illtud's Galilee Chapel, St Illtud's Church, Llantwit Major

With the roof in place, attention is turning to the interior. Beautiful details in stonework are starting to become visible as the the new window cills and jambs are installed on the South elevation, and the sacking cloth is removed from the West face. The splendid oak ceiling is nearly completed, with just the beams to be finished.

Work has also started on preparing the ancient Celtic crosses for their move. The Wheel Head of the Houelt Cross has been temporarily detached from the shaft for safety reasons prior to its relocation. The Cylindrical Pillar can be seen removed from its location and now stored in the West Church awaiting its new home in the Galilee Chapel.

The roof work is completed! Views here showing the construction details, including a view from St Illtud’s church tower, and also from the inside, taken from the new Mezzanine level:

Read the BBC article “Llantwit Major: Celtic crosses’ new St Illtud’s church home“

After centuries of being exposed to the elements, the Galilee Chapel is now under cover again. Freezing temperatures in March have hampered progress on stone work, but despite this a new internal arch doorway has been created in beautifully crafted new stonework linking the “Archive Room” with the mezzanine level. Stones are being laid to form the glazing areas, which, once in place, along with temporary window and door sheeting, will permit the building to start drying out. The roof is also ready to be slated, and oak end rafters will soon be installed.

Cleaning and restoration work is also just starting on the ancient Celtic Crosses in advance of their short move from the West Church into the Galilee Chapel at St Illtud’s.

The Galilee Chapel Project is about much more than the construction of the building. A lively and thought provoking workshop attracted 25 enthusiastic “ambassadors”.

The Galilee Chapel Project is coming on apace and we will soon be able to open the doors to Britain’s Earliest Centre of Learning! However, we can’t do this without your help. We are looking for volunteers to act as ‘Project Ambassadors’, people that can help promote the project and provide a warm welcome to our visitors.

If you would like more information, please contact our Project Activities Co-ordinator, Gareth Kiddie – details below:

The construction has progressed steadily despite the cold weather. Regulars at St Illtud’s welcomed the news that the gas main is reconnected and the church heating is fully functional again. The main development in February has been the installation of roof support columns. These are now positioned, and the mazzanine floor beams can be clearly seen between the scaffolding levels. There has also been much progress on pointing and stonework, with the exterior largely clad in hessian sacking to protect from frost. The crane is due back shortly to position the roof beams.

As the exterior construction work nears completion, the project team are busy in other developments such as the preparing for the development of an extensive website that will attract interest and visitors to our site we hope from around the world. We are also seeking volunteers to act as ‘Project Ambassadors’ to help promote the project and welcome visitors.

Plans are being made for a grand opening ceremony of the Galilee Chapel over the weekend of the 1st to the 3rd November 2013. Set to coincide with the date that St Illtud is commemorated (6th November), the weekend promises to be packed with a series of events that will showcase this magnificent historic site. The construction work is on schedule with the majority of the external work set to be completed in April, when attention will focus on the interior.

Full details of the Opening Ceremony will be published on this site, but in the meantime please make sure you’ll be in Llantwit Major for the first weekend in November!

December was a busy month on the construction front. The main trench for service pipes has been dug and the pipes laid. The original stonework was cleaned and re-pointed, which can be seen at the west end. There was also progress on the main roof pillars, and ashlar stone is being cut ready for fitting. A new mains cable has been put in with not to much problems, and a new gas main, water main and foul drain have been put in up to the site boundary wall. We are hoping to arrange for a phone line to the site to enable us to possibly erect a web cam or a camera for live coverage and possible recording of the build.

Contractors on the Galilee Chapel site have made an unexpected discovery: eight full skeletons, located inside and outside the old chapel have been uncovered.

Further bones and skulls have been revealed. Each skeleton takes 3 – 5 days at least to expose properly, archaeologically record and remove.  Further graves have been found outside, two being deep, on to the bedrock, so are probably very old. Further details will follow!