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

Download a presentation on the Galilee Chapel Project here: Galilee Project Presn

A person donating £10 or more in any one calendar year is eligible to become a Friend of St Illtud’s. However, we do hope that you will feel able to give more.

St. Illtud’s Church is a Registered Charity (1131490) which means that if you are a UK taxpayer your donations are eligible to recover an additional 25p in every £1 from the government under the Gift Aid scheme.

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Autumn Book Review

“An Forth Keltek”

Last autumn I was surprised to receive a book in the post with a very strange title – An Forth Keltek. Where did it come from and what did it mean? Thankfully the book arrived with a note of explanation – it came from across the channel (the Bristol Channel that is!), the language was Cornish, the author was Andy Phillips. Andy is an Anglican priest and Tas a’n Gowethas (Fellowship Father) of the Cowethas Peran Sans (Fellowship of St Piran). This ecumenical Christian fellowship was established in 2007 seeking to rediscover Cornwall’s Celtic spiritual heritage in inspiring living faith and action within the contemporary setting of the 21^st Century.
An Forth Keltek (The Celtic Way) provides an illuminating introduction into contemporary spirituality in its broadest sense with intriguing references to personal encounters such as the conversation around the “sacred fire” with the colorfully dressed New Age protestor Taurus! The book goes on to describe new expressions of church with particular reference to the outworking of modern expressions of Celtic Christianity such as the Iona and Northumbria Communities. Andy goes on to argue that the “Celtic Vision” needs to be broadened from the modern predominance of Scotland, Ireland and Northumbria to include Cornwall, Wales and Brittany which have tended to be overlooked within much of the popular literature. He provides a helpful synopsis of the Celtic mission in these regions with references to notable saints. It is good to see that Llanilltud Fawr is highlighted as a major centre of Christian mission. Even though there are no churches dedicated to Illtud in Cornwall we do share a spiritual father in Samson, Illtud’s most famous pupil. An Forth Keltek draws greatly upon history for inspiration and direction, but its main focus is to encourage faithful living in the present through a disciplined life of prayer, being courageous in taking risks, being sacrificial in our concern for our environment, and being dedicated to the pursuit of personal holiness.
An Forth Keltk is a challenging read! There may well be things that you find to be uncomfortable, but you are sure to be inspired by the “Call to Sainthood” which it encourages in all of us who seek to take up our cross and follow Christ.
Will you be courageous enough to take up the challenge and read An Forth Keltek? I commend it to you as a risk worth taking…
Huw (Rector)

An Forth Keltek by Andy Phillips is available at the Church Shop priced £8.

Information about Cowethas Peran Sans (Fellowship of St Piran) can be found at:

www.peransans.org

Update on funding…

As mentioned in last month’s update we have secured £465,000 (£300,000 Heritage Lottery Fund, £25,000 CADW, £140,000 Church Funds/Fundraising). Pursuing our funding target to initially secure a further  £200,000 much work is ongoing with a number of major grant applications currently being processed – Community Facilities and Activities Programme and Tourism Investment Support Scheme (both administered by the Welsh Assembly Government) together with two local trusts – Veolia (Landfill Tax) and Aggregates Levy (Aberthaw). We should be in a position to report on the outcome of these applications during October.

The project team are grateful for the assistance of Richard Jones and Helen Embling (Diocesan Resources Officers) for their advice and support.

Education – Next Lecture…

In keeping with Illtud’s monastic school the Galilee Chapel Project is a focus for Learning. During September we continue to learn more about the history of St. Illtud’s Church with the fourth lecture in our series this year to be given by:

Dr. Rhianydd Biebrach

(Swansea University)

on

THE ST. ILLTUD’S EFFIGIES

to be held

THURSDAY 29^th SEPTEMBER 7:30pm

ALL WELCOME!

Free Admission.

[Donations for the Galilee Chapel Project appreciated]

Spirituality – Book Review…

When was the last time you read a book? This autumn why not set yourself to the task of informing your faith through reading? See the suggested autumn book reviewed in the next Post on this site …

An Forth Keltek by Andy Phillips is available at the Church Shop priced £8

Did You Know …

Llanilltud Fawr, is a Celtic foundation dating from 500AD and considered to be Britain’s earliest seat of learning where Illtud began his prolific monastic school community?

The Project

As part of the ongoing heritage of spirituality, education and service to the community the Galilee Chapel Project aims to refurbish the roofless “Galilee” ruin at the west end of the church for use as a centre of education in Celtic Christian studies and to provide an appropriate exhibition space for the Celtic Christian stones. An archive room, toilets and a tea station will also be provided to facilitate and support an increased community use of the church in welcoming tourists and pilgrims, schools and academic organizations, and local community groups.

The Costs

Construction costs are estimated at around £600,000 and the related ongoing community activity costs at around £300,000 which includes a major youth project and various other community and tourism initiatives.

We continue to fundraise and seek further grants to reach our target of £600,000 to be in a position to complete the construction work. To date we have secured £465,000 (£300,000 Heritage Lottery Fund, £25,000 CADW, £140,000 Church Funds/Fundraising). Only £135,000 to go!

We will be actively working to source further funding during the summer and autumn this year.

We’re on Facebook

There is a Facebook Community for the St. Illtud’s Galilee Chapel Project? If you join this community (see home page for this site) you will soon be getting weekly “Did you know…” facts of interest relating to Illtud, Llanilltud Fawr and news of the development of the project. Even if you are not a Facebook user the information will be posted on the website which will also soon have a PayPal facility to enable donations to be made on-line. The Benefice News magazine will also include monthly updates.

So, keep up to date with progress, get involved and offer your support and, very importantly, your prayers in furthering this exciting project. More news in next months update…

The next lecture in the Galilee Series will be on Thursday, May 26, at 7.30 in St. Illtud’s, when Dr. Madeleine Gray, senior lecturer in history at the University of Newport, will speak on, “St. Illtud’s, the other stones.”  She will talk about some of the lesser known stone slabs in the church.

In 1539, Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries broke the link between Llantwit Major and the Abbey at Tewkesbury, which had been given our living by Robert Fitzhamon, the Lord of Glamorgan.

History was probably made on February 3^rd, 2011, when a packed church was lectured to by a Dominican monk, Dom Adrian Bellenger, the Abbot of Downside, near Bath, who spoke on “Light in a Dark Age – the Celtic Church in the Age of Illtud.”

He reminded us that Benedict and Illtud lived around the same time, a period of upheaval following the collapse of the Roman Empire and, in our case, the withdrawal of the Roman army from Britain, cutting us off from the church of Rome.  They saw the future in the same way, a communal life based upon prayer.  Christians found their faith in monasteries, built in remote places, part of a cosmopolitan community.

Celtic Christians worshipped in their own way, but as the Gospel spread through England following the mission of St. Augustine, initial distrust was transformed into mutual fellowship.  St. Illtud’s retained its importance certainly into the ninth century, indicated by  the royal memorial crosses, soon to be rehoused in a rebuilt Galilee Chapel, but its individuality ended with the coming of the Normans.

The second lecture was given by Dom Paul Stonham, the Abbot of Belmont, near Hereford, who spoke on “The Benedictines in Llantwit Major.”  Llantwit Major was a very small Benedictine outpost, with a grange supervised by never more than three monks.  The grange, a large farm, worked the land between the Ogney brook and St. Donats, its revenues and the tithes going to Tewkesbury.  On a History Society trip to the Abbey, we asked if we could have some of our money back, but this was not possible  because the records were lost.  A bit like governments.

There were nineteen Benedictine priories in Wales (not one was large enough to become an abbey).  The nearest to us is Ewenny, whose church survived the dissolution. Here, the abbey land was sold to Sir Edward Stradling of St. Donats, and a little later the roof of the Galilee fell in.    The dove cot and the gate house remind us of our Catholic past, a faith that was not practised here again until 1921.

Viv Kelly

A list of official supporters of the Galilee Chapel Project has been added to the website.

We look forward to welcoming Dom Paul Stonham (Abbot of Belmont) to give the next lecture in our series entitled The Mediaeval Benedictines. The lecture will take place on Thursday 31^st March at 7:30pm at St. Illtud’s Church. All are welcome to attend. Admission is free but any donations towards the Galilee Chapel Project would be most appreciated.

On Thursday 3^rd February 2011 at St. Illtud’s Church a historic event took place when a large audience gathered to listen to a Benedictine Abbot.

When Robert Fitzhamon led the Norman conquest of the Vale of Glamorgan, he gave the living of Llantwit Major to Tewkesbury Abbey, a Benedictine foundation. On the hill above the church was a large farm or grange, which worked the monastic land between the church and St. Donat’s. The monks and priests (who were Roman Catholic), worshipped in the East Church while the smaller West Church became the Parish Church.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII the Benedictine link was lost.

On the evening of 3^rd February, Dom Aidan Bellenger (Abbot of Downside and a noted Christian historian) lectured on “Light in a Dark Age, the Celtic Church in the Age of Illtud”. He reminded a packed Church that St. Illtud and St. Benedict were contemporaries and showed that the origins of the Benedictine Rule had similarities with the teachings of the Celtic Church in South Wales.

Both Illtud and Benedict lived in a time of upheaval as the Roman Empire was collapsing. Italy was subject to invasions from the heathen north, while the Romano-Britons were clinging on to the teachings of Roman times. Christians found their haven in the monasteries in remote lands.

The monks based their faith on prayer and communal worship under the oversight of an Abbot. According to the Welsh Triads, Llantwit Major was one of only three monasteries in Britain where prayers were said for twenty four hours every day of the year.