Caerleon’s St Cadoc’s Church

Situated in Caerleon, Newport, Wales, St Cadoc’s Church is a Grade II* listed church. It is one of the structures connected to St Cadoc’s journey.

The historically significant location of the Roman legionary fortification of Isca Augusta is Caerleon. Overlooking the principia (headquarters), where the legionary standards were stored and sculptures of the Roman emperors were revered, is St Cadoc’s Church. The oldest portion of the church that has survived is believed to have been built by Hywel ap Iowerth, who also founded the Cistercian Llantarnam Abbey, shortly after the Normans conquered the kingdom of Glywysing in the twelfth century.

The fifteenth-century Perpendicular style, which is what the current church is in, was popular. The lower stage of the tower, which is located in the southwest corner of the church, features lancet windows from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and was most likely a part of the original Norman church. The church has a number of striking stained-glass windows that show the life of Christ and represent the dedication and faith of the Caerleon-related saints.

Since 1951, St Cadoc’s Church, a focal point of the village with a magnificent mediaeval tower, has been listed as a Grade II* building.