The ruins of the old Cathedral are very beautiful; the door-cases are all
Norman architecture, elegantly moulded; two of which, on the north and
south sides, are fine specimens of that æra. All the other parts are
Gothic: the nave is unroofed. Within these ruins we entered the
Cathedral, which carries with it more the appearance of a modern theatre
than a place of divine worship, so erroneous was the taste of the
architect, in combining with the sacred Gothic a fantastical work of his
own. Among several ancient monuments, are two very elegant ones of the
Mathews family, {35a} whose descendants own the site of the bishop’s
castle, of which only the gate remains: the rest, with the archdeacon’s
house, was destroyed by Owen Glendour. {35b} There are likewise the
monuments of two Bishops, with another, and the figure of Lady Godiva,
full length, carved in marble on it.
The present cathedral was built by Bishop Urban, about the year 1107: its
length is two hundred and sixty-three feet and a half, breadth sixty-five
feet, and height one hundred and nineteen feet; like Bangor, it has no
cross aisle.
Near this city is the rural village and the castle of St. Fajans,
celebrated for a sanguinary battle, fought in its vicinity between the
Royalists and Republicans during the Protectorate of Cromwell, in which
the former were defeated with the loss of nearly the whole of their
troops. Landaff, although it ranks as an episcopal city, and was one of
the first places in the British dominions in which a religious
establishment was founded, boasting the erection of its first church A.D.
186, is now little better than a village dependant on Cardiff for its
supplies: even its clergy find few inducements to draw their attention to
it, beyond what duty requires: they possess a chapter-room, kitchen, and
office for the Proctor-general, yet seldom meet more than once a year for
the audit.
Landaff stands on a small eminence, commanding a view of Cardiff and the
surrounding country.—We returned again to Cardiff, and the first six
miles of our road to