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Related Pages on this Site: Ancient Monuments in Wales Famous Figures in Welsh History

Items on this page in natural order:

Who were the Celts?
Language
Religion
The Arrival of the Normans
Early Christian Stones
Locations
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Celtic Wales

The symbol of Celtic Christianity is the cross and circle. I it has survived in use until comparatively modern times - as these 19th Century gravestones testify. The photograph shows two disc-headed crosses in the foreground and a wheel-headed cross in the background. Church graveyard in Merthyr Mawr, Glamorgan.

The Celts were the original inhabitants of Wales and many people in Wales today see themselves as Celts.

Much of the origins of the Celts is surrounded in mystery and what survives today is more legend than fact.


Who were the Celts?

Although the Celts are popularly percieved as being a race of people, it is unlikely that the common culture which can be seen through common themes on artifacts and above all through a common language, came about as a result of mass migration., but as a result of trade and other contacts between diverse peoples.

The Celts had their origin in Central Europe, but then dispersed both East and West. The emergence of the Roman Empire resulted in Celtic culture being pushed to the Western edges of Europe.


Language

When the Romans arrived, the native Britons spoke a Celtic language - the ancestor of the Celtic languages of Britain:

• Welsh. Spoke by about half a million people in Wales and perhaps another half million people of Welsh origin living elsewhere.
• Scottish Gaelic. Spoken by a small minority people in the Western Isles.
• Cornish. The language of Cornwall. It ceased to be a living language about two centuries ago.

These languages are closely related to Irish and Breton, which is spoken in Brittany, in North-Western France


Religion

Burial remains indicate the clearest evidence of the religion of the early Celts. Megaliths such as Pentre Ifan (see Ancient Monuments in Wales ) represented the entrances to burial mounds, which have since disappeared. These were later replaced with burial cairns (mounds of stone).

The religious practices of the early Celts almost certainly involved human sacrifice.

The Romans brought with them not only their own Gods, but also religions from the East, including Christianity.

When the Romans left Britain, Christian practices were maintained by small groups of Celts living either as hermits or in small communities called a clas.

The period in Wales around the Sixth Century is known as the "Age of Saints".

These communities were probably the unique centres of learning of their time and they were instumental in keeping Celtic Christianity alive until the the arrival of the Normans in the Eleventh Century.

Saint David (see Famous Figures in Welsh History ) is the best known of the leaders of this time. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales.


The Arrival of the Normans

Celtic Christianity faded with the arrival of the Normans, who brought a very different form of Christianity - much more wealthy and powerful - characterised by a highly organised and hierarchical structure.

With the arrival of the Normans, Christianity became part of the Establishment and a force for suppressing native Celtic culture. It remained so until the 17th Century, when again purely Welsh forms of Christianity emerged, which became a challenge to those who controlled Wales from beyond its borders.


Early Christian Stones

Collections of early Christian stones remain and can be visited. Behind the Church of St. Teilo in Merthyr Mawr (Glamorgan) is a covered enclosure containing a collection of small stones. A number of larger stones are housed in the Church of St Illtyd in Llantwit Major, which is open (without payment) to the public. CADW (see Events - Organisations and other Details ) maintain a museum of Celtic Stones in Margam.

Margam, near Swansea, is the place where the contrast between the two forms of Christianity can most clearly be seen - with the splendour of the Norman Abbey Church located a short walking distance from the stones contained in the museum.


Locations

Here are the locations of the places mentioned on this page. For an explanation of the system used - see Expanation of Ordinance Survey Map Coordinates
Margam Abbey:SS803877
Margam Stones:SS798881
Merthyr Mawr:SS882784
St Illtyds's Church:SS882784

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This page was last updated on 17 December 2000 __________ Back to:net-cymru Home Page