St Crallo's Church is dedicated to the 6th century Celtic saint, Crallo, supposedly related to both Saint Illtyd and Saint Canna. It is believed that the saint founded a church on the site before the construction of the present medieval building.
The present church is dated to the mid to late 13th century, when it was built as part of St Crallo's College. The church had undergone no changes since it was built until John Prichard began a restoration in 1870. At the time of the restoration, no work was done on the tower because it appeared to be sound and there was a lack of funds for further restoration work.
On 7 February 1877, the tower fell without warning. The south transept of the church was in ruins and the northern transept was badly damaged. The tower's collapse also damaged the cross of Saint Crallo in the church courtyard. In 1888, the church hoped to be able to restore the Saint Crallo cross with the help of a drawing made by F. R. Kempson. Fragments of the cross were carefully preserved. The cross was reassembled and is now kept inside the church. At the time the tower fell, a contractor had been removing the remains of those who had been buried near the tower. Some 1,800 remains were being moved to the east side of the church.
Since the nave had relatively little damage, a temporary wall was built at its east end to allow the church to conduct services. It remained in this condition until the church was able to fund the rebuilding project. F. R. Kempson was given the responsibility of the rebuilding work in 1888. The stained glass windows of the aisle were installed by Celtic Studios in the mid 20th century, while the western windows of engraved glass were added by Frank Roper in 1963.
The church contains a memorial to lexicographer Thomas Richards, a 14th-century tomb chest featuring an effigy of praying monk with fine detail on a plain tomb chest, and an 18th-century memento mori tablet on the western wall dedicated to Richard Howell.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.