St Illtyd's Church, Llantwit Major

Llantwit Major

Llantwit Major is a small coastal town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the Bristol Channel coast. A small stream, the Afon Col-huw, runs through the town.-Local government:...

, is one of the oldest and best-known parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

es in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

The name of the town is an English corruption of the Welsh name Llanilltud Fawr ("great church of Illtud"), and on this site Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 Illtud

Illtud

Illtyd , was a Welsh saint, founder and abbot of Llanilltud Fawr in the Welsh county of Glamorgan...

 (or 'Illtyd') is believed to have founded a teaching monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 or 'llan' during the 6th century.

The church of St Illtyd, now the parish church, contains several wall paintings dating from the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

and 17th century.