To see: in the Herbert Chapel (dedicated to St Benedict), a line of alabaster effigies that earns St Mary's its nickname, "the Westminster Abbey of Wales". Tomb by tomb you can trace the rise of one of Wales's greatest dynasties. The patriarch Sir William ap Thomas (d. 1445), builder of Raglan and veteran of Agincourt, lies here with Lady Gwladys; nearby rest Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook (d. 1469) and his wife Margaret. The Renaissance jewel of the group is the tomb of Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas, tucked beneath an ornate arch (see its own entry, UKS-044). Alabaster — veined and easily polished — let the English workshops model faces, praying hands and armour folds with great delicacy: workshop production, yet unusually refined for Wales. The sequence runs on to the rare medieval wooden Jesse figure and to the late tomb of William Baker (1648).
Did you know?
These alabaster effigies are not portraits but standard "types", carved in workshops around Nottingham and the Midlands and shipped across Britain. To find so many gathered in one Welsh church is exceptional — a measure of the Herberts' wealth and reach.
Info
- A group of effigies chiefly in Midlands alabaster, 15th-16th c., extended into the 17th c.
- Families: Herbert (Earls of Pembroke), descended from Sir William ap Thomas of Raglan.
- The Herbert (St Benedict's) Chapel holds most of the monuments.
- Interior; parish church and former Benedictine priory church.