Houelt Cross - St Illtyd's Church - Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
N 51° 24.474 W 003° 29.276
30U E 466063 N 5695299
St Illtyd's Church is one of the oldest parish churches in Wales, features a small collection of Celtic stones dating back to the 9th century. Situated in the picturesque and historic village of Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMJZD3
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/21/2014
Views: 1
The church stands on the site of an earlier church that was founded in around 500AD by St Illtud. The present building was constructed in stages from about 1100 onwards.
The church has a small exhibition of Stone Artefacts and Celtic Stones, that used to stand outside the church. One of which is a stunning example of a celtic cross called the 'Houelt Cross' that dates from the ninth century.
" ‘Houelt’s Cross’ a 6 foot high disc-headed or wheel-head cross from the 9th-century AD. This has fretwork and patternwork on its lower front section and Celtic-style knotwork, interlacing and key-patterning on the wheel-head, but on the base there is a Latin inscription recalling Houelt (Hywel) the son of Res – probably Rhys ap Arthfael, King of Glamorgan, who died in 850 AD. The inscription reads: ‘In the name of God the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’. ‘This cross Houelt prepared for the soul of Res his father’." Text Source: (
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