Though seemingly unchanging, many historic churches have witnessed constant renewal, adaptation and repair during the last thousand years or more to meet the changing needs and aspirations of their congregations.
Because of this they provide a strong physical link with the past and have a fascinating story to tell about the history of the communities that built them and continue to maintain them. The care and maintenance of historic churches therefore needs to be carried out with respect to their historical and archaeological value as well as to their primary role as places of Christian worship.
To help our understanding of historic churches in Wales, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments sponsored the four Welsh archaeological trusts to undertake an archaeological survey of the historic churches in the six dioceses of the Church in Wales, covering around 1,000 churches that were either built before the beginning of the nineteenth century or which lie on sites established before that time.
The results of this fieldwork and research are included in a series of individual church reports and regional surveys which are available from the trusts.
This section draws upon the Wales-wide survey and looks at what archaeology can tell us about the history of Welsh churches, and how this rich archaeological heritage can be preserved and managed.
