WELSH HISTORIC PLACES OF INTEREST
Ann Eastham reports from an informative conference held in November, 2009
Organised by Alex Glanville, Head of Property Services for the Church in Wales, this conference attracted expert speakers who presented overviews of their period, special interest or approach.
Dr Mark Redknap, curator of medieval antiquities at the National Museum of Wales, concentrated on the early medieval church. The Reverend Dr John Morgan Guy, author and director of the research project Imaging the Bible in Wales, pursued a similar theme through religious art and design as a response to the need to demonstrate religious truths. Professor John Harvey, from Aberystwyth, presented an analytical view of the Chapel movement in Wales between the 17th and 20th centuries. Robert Dunning, representing the Diocese of Bath and Wells, took as his theme communication and trade between the West Country and Wales from the 5th century. Julian Orbach, co-author of the Pembrokeshire volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales, led a session on ‘The Victorian Churches of Wales’.
Finally, two technical papers, presented by Sir Trevor Morris and CADW’s Trevor Thorpe, addressed the problems of conservation and funding.
The churches of Wales have drawn pilgrims of all faiths, and no faith, for at least a thousand years and it is to be hoped that future conferences on this theme will consider projects for the sustainable use of traditional centres of faith and worship in the 21st century.
A longer version of this report can be found here