With the arrival of the Normans in the eleventh century, four
Welsh dioceses – St David’s, Bangor, Llandaff and St Asaph -
were created, with Bishops appointed. Monasteries continued to
be founded by religious orders – Cistercian, Franciscan and
Dominican – and flourished until their dissolution by Henry
VIII. Wales became part of England and the four dioceses part of
the new Church of England with the king as its supreme head.
Faced with persecution and deprivation, the Old Faith struggled
to survive in Wales. Refusal to attend the new services brought
fines and imprisonment to the gentry. Missionary priests
returning to Wales were hunted down, imprisoned and sentenced to
death. Fewer priests meant less access to worship. Yet on some
large estates maintained by courageous families, chaplains were
sheltered, often in hiding, so that the Mass could be
celebrated. In 1829 most of the penal restrictions on Catholics
were abolished. From 1688 the Holy See had appointed Vicars
Apostolic to the Western District whi