List of cathedrals in Wales

Last updated November 02, 2024

This is a list of all cathedrals in Wales, both Anglican Church in Wales cathedrals, and most of the Roman Catholic cathedrals of the Metropolitan Province of Cardiff, excluding the province's former pro cathedral Belmont Abbey in Herefordshire, England, as part of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Church in Wales

Bangor

Brecon

Newport

Map of the Church in Wales cathedrals

There are six dioceses of Wales with a Bishop for each diocese of the Church in Wales. The Archbishop of Wales is elected by the Electoral College from amongst the six Welsh diocesan bishops. The first Archbishop of Wales was enthroned in 1920.^[1]

The Welsh Church Act 1914 caused the Church of England to be disestablished in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1920, and allowed the establishment of the Church in Wales and enthronement of the first Archbishop of Wales in the same year.^[2]^[3]^[1] The act introduction states, "An Act to terminate the establishment of the Church of England in Wales and Monmouthshire, and to make provision in respect of the Temporalities thereof, and for other purposes in connection with the matters aforesaid."^[4]

Name and dedication	Diocese	Established, location
Bangor Cathedral Cathedral Church of St Deiniol	Diocese of Bangor	456
secular canons 1092
Brecon Cathedral Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist	Diocese of Swansea and Brecon	1923
Benedictine priory 1093/1110–1538
Llandaff Cathedral Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, St Dyfrig, St Teilo and St Euddogwy	Diocese of Llandaff	550
monastery, secular canons 1107
Newport Cathedral Cathedral Church of St Woolos	Diocese of Monmouth	1921 as co-cathedral 1949 as cathedral
former parish church
St Asaph Cathedral Cathedral Church of St Asaph	Diocese of St Asaph	553
monastery, secular canons 1143
St Davids Cathedral Cathedral Church of St David	Diocese of St Davids	580
secular canons 1116 originally dedicated to St Andrew and St David

Roman Catholic Church

Cardiff

Swansea

Wrexham

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Map of the catholic Roman Catholic cathedrals in Wales

The Welsh and Herefordshire operations of the Catholic Church in England and Wales is divided into three dioceses; the Diocese of Wrexham, the Diocese of Menevia and the Archdiocese of Cardiff. Together these dioceses make up the Catholic Province of Cardiff.^[5]

The Archdiocese of Cardiff includes 78 churches including Cardiff cathedral. 70 of these churches are in south east Wales and 8 churches in Herefordshire, England.^[6] The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is a permanent assembly of Catholic Bishops and Personal Ordinaries in the two member countries of Wales and England.^[7]

Name and dedication	Diocese	Established, location
Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St David	Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia	1916

Swansea Cathedral Cathedral Church of St Joseph	Diocese of Menevia (1898–2024)	1987–2024
church opened in 1888, located in Convent Street, Greenhill, SA1 2BX
Wrexham Cathedral Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows	Diocese of Wrexham	1907
parish church 1847 pro-cathedral 1907–1987

Former or proposed Cathedrals

Going by the Cathedral definition of seating a bishop this list includes St David's and St Asaph's attempt's to relocate to larger towns and also several early Celtic Catholic pre-congregational churches as well. Several of these are shrouded in mystery making it hard to figure out what's right and what's wrong

Image	Name and dedication	Diocese	Established, location
	St Padarn's Church, Llanbadarn Fawr Saint Padarn's church	Diocese of St Davids	6th century-9th century Proposed from 1920-1923

	Leicester's Church, Denbigh Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester	Diocese of St Asaph	Proposed St Asaph move begun in 1578-9, abandoned in 1584^[8]
	Planned Puritan cathedral built on site of earlier church, in north Wales then largest town
	N/A N/A	Diocese of St Asaph	Proposed St Asaph move from 1281-1283
	Proposed move to new english fortified town Rhuddlan. The intended cathedral site was probably used for the new parish church, St Mary's, in c. 1300
	St Peter's Church, Carmarthen St Peter's Church	Diocese of St Davids	Proposed St Davids move from 1536-1539 and 1678
	proposed move the see to Carmarthen then the largest town in Wales^[9]
N/A	Glasbury Cathedral Saint Cynidr	Diocese of St Davids	6th century-11th century
N/A
N/A	The Seven Bishop-Houses of the Kingdom of Dyfed N/A	Diocese of St Davids	The 6 subordinate churches lasted from the 6th century-10th century
N/A	7 in all including the current Cathedral at St David's they were scattered across the former kingdom of dyfed St David's had a higher status than any of the others. Apart from the Bishop of St David's, their heads were described as abbots. Whether the other six were also bishoprics, former bishoprics, burial places of saint-bishops or staging posts in the travels of the bishop of St David's is debated.^[10]
	Church of St Kentigern and St Asa Original dedication unknown	Diocese of St Asaph	6th century-11th century
	St Asaph's former location
	St Saeran's Church, Llanynys St Saeran's Church	Diocese of St Asaph	6th century
	^[11]
	St Cybi's Church St Cybi's Church	Diocese of Bangor	540-554

	St Teilo's Church, Llandeilo Fawr St Teilio's Church	Diocese of St Davids	6th century-11th century

	St Margaret's Church St Margaret's Church	Diocese of Hereford	6th century-11th century
	Was in Wales prior to 1844^[12]

False Cathedrals

Several Churches in Wales have been called cathedrals by their locals even if the aren't they are the following:

Welsh Presbyterian Church, Liverpool/"Welsh Cathedral"(in England)^[13]
Christ Church, Bryn-y-Maen/"The Cathedral of the Hills"
St John's English Wesleyan Methodist Church/"Cathedral of English Wesleyan Methodism on the north Welsh Coast"
Saint Peter's Church Pontardawe/"The Cathedral of the Swansea Valley"
Tabernacle Welsh Independent Chapel/"The Cathedral of Welsh Nonconformity"
Bethesda English Baptist/"The Nonconformist Cathedral of West Wales"
Zion Congregational Church/"Cathedral of Welsh Non-Conformity"
St Peter's Church, Pentre/"Cathedral of the Rhondda
Aberdare St Elvan/"Cathedral of the Valleys"^[14]

Related Research Articles

The Church in Wales is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.

The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came under its Archbishop. The new Church became the Welsh province of the Anglican Communion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia</span> Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia

The Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia.

The Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church which covers south Wales and the county of Herefordshire in England. The Metropolitan Province of Cardiff covers all of Wales and parts of England. Cardiff's one suffragan diocese is the Diocese of Wrexham.

The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph.

The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.

The Diocese of Menevia was a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It was one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and was subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff, until it merged with the Archdiocese in 2024, to form the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia.

The Diocese of Wrexham is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff.

St Padarn's Institute came into being in 2016. Until then the site belonged to St Michael's College, an Anglican theological college in Llandaff, Wales. St Michael's college was founded in Aberdare in 1892, and was situated in Llandaff from 1907 until 2016. Among its many alumni was the poet R. S. Thomas. The original building on the site was a house constructed for himself by John Prichard. After his death, that building was incorporated into the newly founded St Michael's College, which was built mainly to the designs of F. R. Kempson between 1905 and 1907. In the late 1950s, a chapel was built by George Pace. The college had significant financial problems in the early 21st century and was eventually closed.

Religion in Wales has become increasingly diverse over the years. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Welsh population until the late 20th century, but it rapidly declined throughout the early 21st century. Today, a plurality (46.5%) of people in Wales follow no religion at all.

Belmont Abbey, in Herefordshire, England, is a Catholic Benedictine monastery that forms part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It stands on a small hill overlooking the city of Hereford to the east, with views across to the Black Mountains in Wales to the west. The 19th century Abbey also serves as a parish church.

Edwin Regan is a Welsh prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second Bishop of Wrexham from 1994 to 2012.

Representing 43.6% of the Welsh population in 2021, Christianity is the largest religion in Wales. Wales has a strong tradition of nonconformism, particularly Methodism. From 1534 until 1920 the established church was the Church of England, but this was disestablished in Wales in 1920, becoming the still Anglican but self-governing Church in Wales.

George Stack KC*HS CStJ is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was installed as the seventh Archbishop of Cardiff on 20 June 2011 and retired on 20 June 2022.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Newport (and Menevia) was the Latin Catholic precursor (1840-1916) in Wales and southwest England of the present Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, with see in Newport, Wales, and was revived as Latin titular see.

Joanna Susan Penberthy is a retired Welsh Anglican bishop. From 2016 until 2023 she served as the Bishop of St Davids in the Church in Wales. She was the first woman to become a bishop in the Church in Wales, when she was consecrated a bishop on 21 January 2017.

John Derrick Percy Lomas is an Anglican bishop in Wales, serving as the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon since 2021.

References

1 2 "Bishops". Church in Wales. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
↑ "Welsh Church Act – Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
↑ Doe, Norman (5 March 2020). A New History of the Church in Wales: Governance and Ministry, Theology and Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-108-49957-6.
↑ "Welsh Church Act 1914".
↑ Spencer, James. "Wales". www.catholiceducation.org.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
↑ "Churches". Archdiocese of Cardiff. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
↑ "The Church". Catholic Bishops' Conference. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
↑ https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/earl-leicesters-church
↑ https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/100046/
↑ https://dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/StDavids/StDavidstheme.htm
↑ https://www.mythslegendsodditiesnorth-east-wales.co.uk/st-saeran-s-church
↑ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/heref/vol1/p248
↑ https://liverpoolhiddenhistory.co.uk/the-welsh-cathedral/
↑ https://welshchapels.wales/search/nprn/11386

External links

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[:0-1] 1 2 "Bishops". Church in Wales. Retrieved 18 January 2023.

[2] "Welsh Church Act – Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2023.

[3] Doe, Norman (5 March 2020). A New History of the Church in Wales: Governance and Ministry, Theology and Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-108-49957-6.

[4] "Welsh Church Act 1914".

[5] Spencer, James. "Wales". www.catholiceducation.org.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2023.

[6] "Churches". Archdiocese of Cardiff. Retrieved 19 January 2023.

[7] "The Church". Catholic Bishops' Conference. Retrieved 18 January 2023.

[8] ttps://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/earl-leicesters-church

[9] ttps://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/100046/

[10] ttps://dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/StDavids/StDavidstheme.htm

[11] ttps://www.mythslegendsodditiesnorth-east-wales.co.uk/st-saeran-s-church

[12] ttps://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/heref/vol1/p248

[13] ttps://liverpoolhiddenhistory.co.uk/the-welsh-cathedral/

[14] ttps://welshchapels.wales/search/nprn/11386

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List of cathedrals in Wales

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