Welsh Journals

BOOK REVIEW Ruth Bidgood, Eglwys Oen Duw Church & Parish. A Guide,1993. E2 00. Ruth Bidgood is well known to the readers of our Transactions as a poet of distinction and a family historian of meticulous scholarship, so the Church and Parish of Oen Duw are fortunate in having her as their chronicler. Indeed one wishes she had chosen as her subject one with a longer history. It is true that she gives us a sketch of the background beginning with the Stone Age, but it is all over in two and a half pages which is not surprising, for Eglwys Oen Duw was only built in 1863. But from then her narrative is a feast of fascinating information about life in north Breconshire. Sometimes she assumes her readers are as well informed as herself. So who was John Norton, the architect, and is there any special signif- icance that the stained glass is by Clayton and Bell and Burlison and Grylls? John Norton who also rebuilt Builth parish church and was active, too, in Radnorshire at Llanelwedd, also built the South Western Hotel at Southampton for the London and South Western Railway Company. Clayton and Bell and Burlison and Grylls were pre-eminent as makers of stained glass in the Victorian period. Only the best was good enough for the Thomas family. Ruth Bidgood, however, sees the totality of parish life, so her guide is much more than a tour around the parish church: it is an elegantly written insight to every aspect of 19th century Brecon and Radnor and is a thoroughly good read and essential for anyone else contemplating a similar guide to their parish. Lastly, perhaps local historians could spare a thought for our book cases. This 37 page glossy covered booklet is desk-top printed on A4 paper, a size which fits uncomfortably amongst more conventionally sized volumes, demanding space amongst the atlases and coffee table productions.