As far as we can see from the poetic evidence the Llanbeblig Trinity was actually on the top beam of the rood screen. The Penrhys example is less clear but one of the poets describes the statue of the Virgin as receiving gold 'ar eu gwrhyd' and one of the meanings of gwrhyd is rood.
I've seen several European examples of roods with other figures on either side of the central three in the rood beam - could that be what you are looking for, Meg?
Maddy
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Presumably none of these are in the location of the rood itself? I can't imagine *that* ever happening -- but what goes on below the rood could vary in design, as Maddy says, and carry carvings of various kinds, including statuary. In many (most? all?) cases there was a nave altar in front of the screen, which would also attract fittings (perhaps statues?). And yes, it's hard to imagine a church too small to have a screen of some description.
Not quite on-topic, but I always find the scale of the destruction of the rood itself in England astonshing - there must have been thousands of the things, yet not a single complete example survives.
Jon
--
Mobile:
07768 234168
Web:
http://joncannon.wordpress.com (blog and main website)http://joncannonschurches.wordpress.com (subsidiary blog)
