Cylchgronau Cymru

IrrJ&nlngia Cxrmttrrnsts. NEW SERIES, No. XIX.—JULY, 1854. THE CHURCHES OF BRECON. (Read at Brecon.) It is a vulgar error, unnoticed, I believe, by Sir Thomas Browne, but with regard to which it has often fallen to my lot to assume his functions, that the Principality of Wales contains nothing of any value in the department of ecclesiastical architecture. I find the mass of English¬ men entirely ignorant of Welsh buildings in the lump; and I am afraid I must add that the mass of Welshmen are hardly less so with regard to those which are not in their own immediate locality. There is many an archi¬ tectural student who conceives himself to be acquainted with all the finest churches in the island, who has never taken the trouble to ascertain whether the nave of St. David's is or is not contemporary with that of Canterbury, or whether LlandafF is or is not furnished with transepts and a central tower. I have even a vivid recollection of being asked by a distinguished North Welsh antiquary, " whether there were anything worth seeing" at the for¬ mer city. To my own mind, as I have often told this Association, even the small and rude churches of Wales possess a peculiar charm, and among them we find scattered here and there buildings of which no English district need be ashamed. This is especially true of the ARCH. CAMB., NEW SERIES, VOL. V. X