Identify this building....

.....I mean, do you think it is a water tower?

Or, maybe the entrance to a retro seventies style art gallery?

Or, is it some biological research station?

Of course, it is none of those things, the clue lies in the cross on the cream wall; it is, in fact, a church.

But, not only is this building a church, it is the National Shrine of Wales - Our Lady of Cardigan, also known as Our Lady of the Taper.

Unbelievable!

How does this compare with, say, Walsingham?

That looks more...er, traditional (and Catholic)

Or, even, Holywell, in mid Wales.

The 'Lourdes' of Wales

No one, least of all the Bishops of Wales, seems to care one iota for their national shrine.

Of course, the cry will go up that the diocese is strapped for cash. 

OK bishop, that's the problem, now think of a solution.

Start a fighting fund to re-build a proper shrine on the banks of the River Teifi (where it historically belongs).

And find a Catholic architect who has an awareness of how early churches (tabernacles) were built in biblical times and, no, that does not mean we want a badger skin edifice in Cardigan, just one that is pleasing to the eye (and Our Lady).

Finally, spend some money, quite a bit, in fact, on commissioning Catholic artists such as James Gillick and his twin sculptor brother, Theodore.