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"I desired in some way to design a work that expressed the abstract notion of belief, worship or veneration, without relying on identifiable icons or artifacts relating to specific schools of theology. My reasoning for this is quite simple, and is about presenting what I believe is the broader picture concerning the fundamental guiding principles of all religious faiths; the names may be different, but we all have our Gods in our own way."
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I remember walking through the town centre one fine spring morning, to visit the Austin Friars site with a view to developing a proposal for a sculptural work. A chance conversation with Richard Frame, local historian and mine of interesting knowledge about Newport, revealed the story of St. Gwynllyw and the magnificent ox. From that moment I knew what I was looking for.
According to legend, Gwynllyw (Woolos) was converted to Christianity when he was told in a dream to search for a white ox with a black spot on it’s forehead, and in this place to build a church as an act of penitence.
The ‘Vision’ represents this ideal, or spiritual legacy, the intention being that the arrival of the bell symbolises the act of faith in whatever form. Perhaps it is about to be installed in the newly completed church, to be rung for the calling of believers to their devotional prayer; or perhaps it is to be rung in celebration, welcoming a new beginning.
Gwynllyw’s original church, founded on Stow Hill, Newport, was almost certainly made of mud and wattle and therefore, lost.
The Ox depicted in the sculpture is based on an extremely rare White Park Bull from the Dynevor Herd, and is undoubtedly the same species as referred to in ‘The Admonition of Saint Gwynllyw’, being the only indigenous breed of white Welsh cattle that would have been around nearly two thousand years ago.
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"Torpedo" and friend
My thanks go to Pat Holloway, the keeper of ‘Torpedo’, who gave me complete access and assistance in the difficult task of measuring and photographing him.
Thomas Berwick 1789
I hope it is seen as a celebratory and optimistic work that stands as a metaphor for the foundations upon which the town were built, and the continued challenge of finding reasons for ringing the bell; when spires are built and dreams attained.
More of The Vision of Saint Gwynllyw...
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