St Michael's Church | |
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Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels | |
52°24′51″N4°05′18″W / 52.4141°N 4.0883°W | |
Location | Aberystwyth, Ceredigion |
Country | Wales |
Denomination | Church in Wales |
Website | St Michael's Church |
History | |
Associated people | Rev. Canon Mark Ansell (Priest in charge). Rev. Cei Rees (Priest in charge) |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade II |
Designated | 27 July 1961 |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Completed | 1890 |
Specifications | |
Materials | Body of church: rubble Roof: slate |
St Michael's Church is a parish church in the town of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. St Michael's is the fourth church to stand on the site. The first dated from the 15th century but was in ruins by the mid-18th century. Its replacement only stood for some forty years before itself being replaced in 1829-1833 with a church designed by Edward Haycock Sr. of Shrewsbury. Nothing of the two earlier buildings remains. The Haycock church was itself superseded by the present church, built by Nicholson & Son of Hereford in 1886-1890. A fragment of the Haycock church remains to the west of the current building.
St Michael's is an active parish church in the Diocese of St Davids. At the end of the 20th century it claimed the largest Anglican congregation in Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade II listed building.
The town of Aberystwyth developed around the Norman castle. [1] Four churches have stood on the site. In the 15th century a church dedicated to St Mary was constructed between the castle and the sea. This church, in ruins by 1748, and its short-lived successor, were replaced by a third church constructed in 1829-1833 by Edward Haycock Sr. Haycock was commissioned by William Edward Powell. [lower-alpha 1] a local landowner and Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiganshire from 1816 until shortly before he died in 1854. Powell was made High Sheriff in 1810 and Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire in 1817. [3] He lived at Nanteos and developed much of Aberystwyth in the 1820s; including Laura Place which fronts the present church. [4]
By the later 19th century, the accelerating development of Aberystwyth as a seaside resort brought calls for a larger, and more impressive church. [5] A later William Powell donated further land at Laura Place for the building of a new church in the 1880s. [6] Powell commissioned designs for the new structure from Nicholson & Son of Hereford and the present church was built between 1886-1890. [7] [lower-alpha 2] The west vestry is all that remains of Haycock's church, [9] This fragment is a Grade II listed building. [10] [lower-alpha 3]
The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard celebrated the opening of the new church on 3 October 1890, congratulating "all those who desire to see the town beautified, or who think that a building devoted to the highest purpose should be of the best that human beings can devise and reasonably provide". [12] Further work was carried out on the development of the church in the first half of the 20th century. [13] Major repairs were undertaken to the church roof in the 21st century, following storm damage from Cyclone Dirk. [14]
St Michael's remains an active parish church in the Evangelical tradition. [15] Services are regularly held. [16] In the late 20th/early 21st centuries, the church claimed the largest Anglican congregation in Wales. [17] The church is administered by the Archdeaconry of Cardigan within the Diocese of St Davids. [18]
The "large and prosperous church" [19] is built on a three-nave plan, with a vestry and a West tower. A planned spire was never built. [13] The construction materials are York sandstone rubble and Westmoreland slate roofs. [19] The style is Gothic Revival, drawing on English Decorated Gothic. [13] Thomas Lloyd, Julian Orbach and Robert Scourfield, in their Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, consider it "old-fashioned", even at the time of its construction. [20]
The interior is faced with Bath limestone and decorated with banding in a contrasting red sandstone. [13] It contains a chancel rood screen by W. D. Caröe dating from the early 20th century. [19] Carved panels in a memorial chapel at the front of the church commemorate the dead of Aberystwyth from the First and Second World Wars. [21] The chapel was constructed in 1992 and involved the moving of the rood screen. [22] [lower-alpha 4] The stained glass is mainly by Alfred Hemming, [lower-alpha 5] although the East window is the work of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. [13] St Michael's is a Grade II listed building. [13]
Llanerchaeron, known as "Llanayron House" to its nineteenth-century occupants, is a grade I listed mansion on the River Aeron, designed and built in 1795 by John Nash for Major William Lewis as a model self-sufficient farm complex located near Ciliau Aeron, some 2+1⁄2 miles south-east of Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. There is evidence that the house replaced an earlier mansion. A later owner, William Lewes, was the husband of Colonel Lewis's inheriting daughter.
Nanteos is an 18th-century former country house in Llanbadarn-y-Creuddyn, near Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. A Grade I listed building, it is now a country house hotel. The gardens and parkland surrounding the mansion are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Edward Haycock Sr. was an English architect renowned for his work in the West Midlands and central and southern Wales during the late Georgian and early Victorian periods.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Cadw.
Bont Goch is a village in Ceredigion, Wales, 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Aberystwyth. With Talybont, it is in the community of Ceulanamaesmawr.
St Michael's Church is the Anglican parish church for the parish of Myddfai, south of Llandovery, in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The present building dates from the 14th and 15th centuries with restoration work being undertaken in 1874, when a bellcote was added, and again in 1926.
St Mary's Church is a Church in Wales place of worship near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was formerly the parish church of Llanfair-ar-y-bryn but was replaced in that function by a new church in a more central location. The present building dates from the 12th century. It has a large churchyard and is situated on a small hill to the north of the town. It was designated a Grade I listed building on 3 August 1966.
Iscoed, Ferryside, Carmarthenshire, Wales is a ruined eighteenth century mansion attributed to the architect Anthony Keck. Constructed for Sir William Mansel in 1772, it was purchased by the Napoleonic general Sir Thomas Picton as an incomplete shell in 1812. The house remained the property of the Picton family until the end of the First World War. Used subsequently as council housing, it has been empty since the 1950s, and is now a derelict shell. The house is Grade II listed.
St Peter's Church, Lampeter, is the Church in Wales parish church for the University town of Lampeter. It is a Grade II listed building, and has been described as "the best Victorian church in the county [of Ceredigion]". Though a church has stood on the site since the medieval period, the present building dates to the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Glandyfi Castle in Glandyfi, Ceredigion, Wales, is a mock castle dating from the early 19th century. It was built for George Jeffreys, a barrister and High Sheriff of Cardiganshire, in around 1819.
The Church of St Michael and All Angels, Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire, Wales is a redundant church dating from the 13th century. A Grade I listed building, the church is now in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.
County Hall, formerly Aberaeron Town Hall, is a municipal building in Market Street, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. The structure, which is now used as a public library, is a Grade II listed building.
Alban Square, in the centre of Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales is a range of early 19th century townhouses. The town of Aberaeron was developed around 1810 as a port by the Rev. Alban Thomas Jones Gwynne, a local landowner. After his father's death in 1819, Colonel A.T.J. Gwynne engaged Edward Haycock Sr. to plan a major expansion. Leases were sold in the early 1830s and Alban Square was designed, but largely unbuilt, by 1834. The town grew as a centre for shipbuilding and commerce. The expansion of the railways, and their arrival in Aberaeron in 1909 brought these commercial endeavours to an end and the town became a seaside resort and a centre for local government. No.s 9-20 inclusive on Alban Square are Grade II* listed buildings, their Cadw listing records describing the square as "a well preserved terrace in a key location".
Portland Place, in the centre of Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales is a terrace of mid-19th century townhouses. The town of Aberaeron was developed around 1810 as a port by the Rev. Alban Thomas Jones Gwynne, a local landowner. After his father's death in 1819, Colonel A.T.J. Gwynne engaged Edward Haycock Sr. to plan a major expansion. Leases were sold in the early 1830s and development continued for much of the rest of the 19th century, the town growing as a centre for shipbuilding and commerce. The expansion of the railways, and their arrival in Aberaeron in 1909 brought these commercial endeavours to an end and the town became a seaside resort and a centre for local government. No.s 1-7 inclusive on Portland Place are Grade II* listed buildings, forming "the finest single terrace" in Aberaeron.
Laura Place, in the centre of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales is a terrace of mid-19th century townhouses. Pevsner considers them "the finest Georgian houses of the town". Laura Place forms two sides of a square, fronting the Church of St Michael and All Angels in the shadow of Aberystwyth Castle. It was developed in the early 19th century by William Edward Powell of Nanteos, High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire. Powell's architect is uncertain, but Cadw suggests George Stanley Repton as a possibility. Repton was certainly the architect of the Assembly Rooms, a separate building standing between 1-9 and 11-12.
Capel Eidalwyr is a Roman Catholic chapel located on the site of a POW camp at Henllan, Ceredigion, Wales. The chapel was established in a former dormitory by Italian prisoners of war, and was decorated mainly by Mario Felito. Now disused, and in some disrepair, the chapel is a Grade II* listed building, described in its Cadw record as "an unique and unusually elaborate example".
Ceredigion is a county in the west of Wales. It covers an area of 1,785 km2 (689 sq mi) and in 2021 the population was approximately 70,700.
West Tarr Mediaeval House is a historic site south of the village of St Florence, in the community of Penally, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The site consists of two structures, the remains of the house and an ancillary building. The house is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled monument. The outbuilding is listed at Grade II.
The Tower at Eastington Manor is a historic site south of the village of Rhoscrowther, in the community of Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The tower is to a tower house plan and dates from the 14th or 15th centuries. A range of later buildings is attached. The tower is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled monument. The range is listed at Grade II.
St Michael's Church is an active parish church in the village of Michaelchurch-on-Arrow, Gladestry, Powys, Wales. Despite its location in Wales, St Michael's is a member of the Church of England, administered through the parish of Brilley with Michaelchurch-on-Arrow in the Diocese of Hereford. Built in the 13th century, the church is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.