Church Of St Illtyd, Penrice
Illtud is venerated as the founder-abbot and teacher of the divinity school known as Cor Tewdws, located in Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) in the county of Glamorgan. He founded the monastery and college in the 6th century, and the school is believed to be Britain's earliest centre of learning. His feast day and commemoration is celebrated on 6 November. There are many churches throughout Wales and Brittany dedicated to St Illtyd.
A Celtic Church stood on this site before it was demolished and a wooden, Christian church was built in the first half of the 5th century. The first written reference to this church, however, only dates back to the 9th or 10th century. The round church yard is indicative of this early Celtic period.
The Church was rebuilt by the sheep farming Cistercian monks in the late 12th century, and most of what we can see today dates back to this period. In 1957 the church was closed due to opencast coal working in the vicinity.
References
- ^ Galilee Chapel Project. "Home". Galilee Chapel Project: St. Iltud's Church, Lantwit Major. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), page 609.
- ^ National Calendar for Wales, accessed 6 February 2012