Saints Teilo, Tudful and Elfan
Designed: R. J. Newbery (1861-1940)
Studio: Charles Powell (1850/51-1934)
St Dyfrig's Chapel, east window
Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, S. Wales
1910
Stained glass
The inscription at the bottom reads, "To the memory of God and in loving memory of Lady Lewis, the wife of Sir W. Thomas Lewis Bt, The Mardy Aberdare, who died on October 2nd 1902." (Mardy was the name of his house, since demoloished.) According to the "Stained Glass in Wales" site, "A design for the window was sold at auction by Phillips in 2001, and described in the catalogue as the work of Robert Newbery, the window subsequently being made by Charles Powell. It might also suggest that other windows attributed to Newbery, of which there are many in Wales, were made by others." [Commentary continues below. Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]
Photographs by Colin Price and text by Jacqueline Banerjee
Closer view of the three saints. On the left is St Teilo, one of the several saints to whom the cathedral is dedicated, and who is also considered to be the patron saint of Cardiff. According to David Thornton, this sixth-century holy man, shown carrying a model of a church and a bishop's crozier, founded the church of Llandeilo Fawr, Dyfed, gained a cult following, and by the twelfth century had "been appropriated by the expanding see of Llandaff and erroneously turned into its second bishop." His tomb is in the south wall of the cathedral. The beautiful St Tudful (or Tydfil) in the middle, with her long plait, was the legendary martyr (hence the palm frond) who gave her name to Merthyr Tydfil, the location of her martyrdom (Rees 151). St Elfan, on the right, also bearing a crozier and gorgeously dressed in ecclesiastical robes: a second-century churchman, he is said to have become the second bishop of London (Rees 87).
Below the main figures are three busy scenes from key episodes in their lives, taking place in suitable contexts. Left: "Saint Teilo founding the college at Llandaff"; middle (a very graphic scene with men cudgelling her to death) "Saint Tudful receives the crown of martyrdom"; and (right) "S. Elfan is baptized and ordained by S. Eleutherius" — another second century bishop (see Rees 83). These lively snapshots help to bring the now obscure Welsh saints to life and tell us at least something of the reasons for their canonization.
Four more Welsh saints appear in the tracery lights: St Dyfan (thought to have been one of the founders of the original church here), St Medwy (another legendary second century churchman, linked with St Elfan), St Fagan (the legendary bishop/saint thought to have founded the first church here with St Dyfan – the nearby village of St Fagan was named after him); and St Dyfrig (a sixth century Archbishop of Llandaff, after whom this north aisle chapel is named). All in all, it is a well-peopled and striking composition that holds it own in company with other windows here by Morris, Burne-Jones, etc.
Related Material
Bibliography
Newman, John. Glamorgan (The Buildings of Wales series). New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004.
"St Teilo, St Tudful and St Elfan" Gwydir Lliw Nghymru: Stained Glass in Wales. Web. 29 September 2019.
Thornton, David. "Teilo [St Teilo, Eliau, Eliud] (supp. fl. c. 550), holy man and supposed bishop." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 29 September, 2019.
Created 3 September 2019