Newport Cathedral

It is from St Mary's chapel that we first view the chief glory of the cathedral – the wonderful twelfth-century Romanesque portal with its characteristic zig-zag chevron motifs framing the iconic view of the main body of the cathedral. The outer order of decoration is derived from Gloucester Cathedral, while the inner order has parallels in the Herefordshire School of Romanesque Sculpture. There are some remains of paint on parts of the portal, and it was almost certainly fully painted originally. The site of the archway may well mark the site of an opening to an earlier, smaller chancel, perhaps ending in an apse, before the major extension of the church took place. One theory is that they…