Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/138

120 the rural congregations of these districts rarely surpassed this number. The addition of transepts and chancels seems to have been made at much later periods, generally in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: but in the conventual establishment of Penmôn, which can hardly be classed with the ordinary parochial churches of the island, the original form of the building was no doubt that which it still retains, cruciform. It is very difficult for a casual observer to recognise the original nucleus of these early churches, but it may be generally discovered in the nave, where the walls are commonly of rude though solid construction, the level of the building sunk beneath that of the external earth, and the windows evidently inserted at some recent period, (often in very late times,) so that originally no light could have been admitted except by the door, or else perhaps by a small eastern window. Without asserting that many of these early buildings remain in the present churches, it may be considered probable that even when a new edifice was erected on the site of an older one, the first plan was adhered to, and that the only change made was that of stone for wood and rubble. The church of Llansadwrn (the church of St. Sadwrn or St. Saturninus) may be referred to as a good instance of the absence of all windows in the original nave:—there are some in the southern side, of the fifteenth century, and a small modern loophole at the western end; but without these the building could originally have had no light. The naves of Llangoed and Llandegvan are similar instances: so is that of Llanvihangel Tyn Sylwy: and even in the conventual church of Penmôn the only fenestral openings in the nave are small circular-headed loopholes contemporary with the building, twenty-four inches by nine externally, but expanding within to a considerable size. These early churches seem never to have been paved or floored, very few of them are so at the present day: the earth, like the soil in the peasants' cottages, is beaten hard, more or less even, and being generally dry serves the purpose of the hardy congregations. The roofs must always have been of wood: no trace of vaulting is to be found anywhere within the commot: and it is by no means improbable that some of the original timber used for these purposes may be in existence at the present day, though the fact can hardly be verified. The universal covering of these roofs is the schistose stone, which composes the largest geological formation in the island. The only approaches to