Saints in Modern Times

The veneration of saints in Wales was suppressed at the time of the Protestant Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century. Figures of saints and relics were destroyed and wall paintings depicting the lives of the saints were whitewashed. Local traditions at churches and holy wells sometimes survived and saints continued to be remembered by recusant Roman Catholics.

In the nineteenth century Roman Catholics were given religious freedom in Wales and the strength of the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Church of England caused statues of saints to be commissioned for churches again. During the twentieth century pilgrimages were revived to former medieval shrines such as Holywell, St Davids and Cardigan.