Welsh Journals

monastic church, the tenacious hold of kindreds on church lands and offices, and poverty resulting from the appropriation of ecclesiastical property by secular lords and religious houses. It is striking, for instance, that the new cathedral begun by Urban in 1120 could be called a monasterium, and there was probably little to distinguish the canons serving the bishop from those in other native Welsh churches under abbots. In general, the calendars and notes attached to the acts serve their purpose admirably. Consideration could have been given, however, to the possibility that the phrase ad refugium relating to the new cemetery consecrated by Bishop Nicholas 1165x1183 at Crick, in the parish of Caerwent, referred specifically to rights of sanctuary rather than simply burial (no. 6). It would also have been worth spelling out, with regard to Bishop William de Burgh's indulgence to pilgrims visiting the shrine of Christ's Precious Blood at Westminster Abbey in December 1247 (no. 92), that the relic had just been acquired by -Henry III from the patriarch of Jerusalem and that the panegyric proclaiming its superiority over the Crown of Thorns alluded to the recent acquisition of the latter by Louis IX of France. But these are minor reservations. Both Dr. Crouch and his publisher are to be warmly congratulated on making this valuable collection of source-material available to scholars. Let us hope that the episcopal acts of the other dioceses of medieval Wales will soon find editors of an equally high calibre. HUW PRYCE Bangor MEDIEVAL CHURCHES OF THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN. By Geoffrey R. Orrin. D. Brown & Sons Limited, Cowbridge, 1988. Pp. xxii, 514, 16 colour pis., 145 monochrome pis. £ 25.00. There seems to be a revival of interest in churches nowadays, stimulated from one side by the zealous apostles of the Victorian Society and from the other by medieval archaeologists who have had opportunities for excavation on early Christian sites. The interest is inspired today more by the appreciation of material and social considerations than by the religious devotion of our Victorian predecessors. The boom in the local aspect of history continues, as the transactions and excursions of county and local societies testify. It is thus an appropriate moment for this important work on the churches of the Vale of Glamorgan to appear, especially since it is produced by an author who combines in balanced measure the qualities and knowledge of an ecclesiologist and an active churchman. Geoffrey Orrin comes from a well-known Mumbles family and was educated at Swansea, both in school and University; he is now assistant librarian in the University College of Swansea. The author rightly says in his preface that there has been no exhaustive survey of the ecclesiastical architecture of the Vale to date. There is no volume of the Royal