A New dean for the cathedral
The Revd Dr Adrian Morgan will be collated and installed as Dean of Brecon on Saturday 26 September 2026
A church has stood on this site since 1093, when the priory was founded. It survived the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537 and continued as the parish church of Brecon. It became a cathedral in 1923, when the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon was created. At first the Bishop was also the Dean, and Brecon has had its own Dean only since 1939.
What happens in the service?
The service has two parts, and each has a legal meaning as well as a spiritual one.
THE COLLATION
This is the moment the Bishop confers the office of Dean. "Collate" comes from the Latin conferre, to bestow. Under the Constitution of the Church in Wales, the appointment of a Dean is vested in the Diocesan Bishop, so the office comes directly from him rather than through an election or nomination board. A Dean must have been a priest for at least six years. Before being collated, the new Dean makes a declaration of canonical obedience to the Bishop, in the Bishop's presence.
THE INSTALLATION
The new Dean is then led to the Dean's stall and placed in it. That is where the word comes from: to be installed is quite literally to be put into your stall. Dr Morgan will then become the twelfth Dean of Brecon.
Speaking in an interview with the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, Dr Morgan said: "…I want to get to know the people of Brecon. I want to invest in good relationships with them, I want to listen to them, understand where they're coming from and I want to allow that understanding to inform how we move forward."
Dr Morgan who is married to Clare and has two daughters, Elena and Betsan, was until recently Vicar of St Catherine's, Gorseinon, and St David's, Loughor, and returns to the cathedral where he was ordained.
