An intricate altar screen dating from the fifteenth century in St Cadoc’s at Llancarfan near Barry has been restored. The restoration of the screen marks the end of a four-year major conservation project, during which medieval wall-paintings of St George and the dragon and the Seven Deadly Sins have also been found.
The church dates from 1200, but stands on a site where there was a monastery from at least 650AD. By the ninth century, Llancarfan was flourishing, but the monastery did not survive the Norman invasion. Experts are unsure how the altar screen came to reside in the church, with one theory being that the screen was moved to Llancarfan in the mid-1600s from elsewhere, when it was already 200 years old. The screen has now been restored to its original gilded colours in a lively, polychromatic scheme.
The work was funded by local trusts, Cadw (Wales’s heritage body), and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and has allowed the church’s medieval wall-paintings to be unveiled along with the restoration of the screen.
More information on this restoration project can be found online here.
