Port Talbot

The Cross of Brancuf an early Christian Sculptured Stone which stands in the church of St Catharine at Baglan. It is an intricately sculptured cross-slab with a Latin cross and an inscription recalling Brancuf. Originally it stood in the old St Baglan’s church but that fell into ruin in the late 19th century and the slab was removed to St Catharine’s. St Baglan (Bagelan), son of King Ithael Hoel of Brittany, was a 6th-century hermit and follower of St Illytud. He founded the first church at the town that now takes his name. In the vestry of St Catharine’s church a cross-slab dating from the 8th-10th century CE. It is intricately decorated with a Celtic-style cross formed out of knotwork (cord-plait knotwork) and interlacing; the ends of each arm are probably of a Latin design. Also, there is a Latin inscription: FECIT BRANCUF or perhaps BRANCU which when translated reads ‘was made by Brancuf’. However, the person known as Brancuf is unknown.