St John the Baptist Church | |
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![]() View from Church Street | |
General information | |
Architectural style | Perpendicular Gothic |
Town or city | Cardiff |
Country | Wales |
Coordinates | 51°28′50.59″N3°10′42.13″W / 51.4807194°N 3.1783694°W |
Construction started | c. 1460s |
St John the Baptist Church is a Grade I listed parish church in Cardiff, Wales. Other than Cardiff Castle, it is the only medieval building in the city centre.
Black's Picturesque Guide through Wales (1851) described St John's as "an ancient and finely proportioned edifice, with a noble quadrangular tower, surmounted by pierced battlements and four open gothic pinnacles... It is justly admired, and forms a conspicuous feature in every view of the town." [1] The same remains true today, with good views of the church from Church Street, Trinity Street and Working Street in the city centre.
John Newman, in his Glamorgan volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, describes the pinnacled west tower as a "magnificent marker". [2] At a height of over 40 metres [3] the tower is in four stages, faced in grey limestone ashlar with details in buff coloured Dundry stone. [2]
The church was built in 1180 as a chapel of ease for the larger St Mary's Church, itself founded by Benedictine monks from Tewkesbury Abbey. Originally constructed of blue Lias, a Jurassic stone with layers of fossilised shells, it was sourced from Aberthaw. The walls were then originally dressed with freestone - limestone sourced from Dundry. [4]
St John's was sacked during a rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in 1404. [5] The church was rebuilt in the second half of the 15th century [5] and given a perpendicular tower with a peal of ten bells. Today it still has a crown of openwork battlements, reminiscent of churches in the West Country of England, and is dated c. 1490 because of the similar Jasper Tower of Llandaff Cathedral which was built at this time. [2]
After the foundations of St Mary's were destroyed by the Bristol Channel flood of 1607, the two churches were worked as a dual-location parish until all main services were moved to St John in 1620.
In 1843, the 2nd Marquess of Bute paid for the construction of the Church of St Mary and St Stephen in Bute Street as a permanent replacement for St Mary's. [6] This allowed the reconstruction of St John, with extensions to the church made in 1886–1897 using carboniferous limestone quarried from Culverhouse Cross. The churchyard wall was also rebuilt, using original Lias mixed with red sandstone in the walls, topped with coping stones of Devonian sandstones from the Forest of Dean. [4]
In 1851 the Cardiff firm of Messrs. Thomas & Norris were engaged for repewing of St John's with the work to be completed by Christmas that year. [7]
St John's stained glass windows date from circa 1855, in the north chapel, with references to the Bute family. Those in the north inner aisle date to 1869, by Morris & Co, with a top row of apostles designed by William Morris himself. [2]
The church was increased in width with outer aisles added to St John's in 1889 and 1891. The old aisle windows were re-set and all the new building was re-surfaced with Sweldon limestone. [2]
The graveyard, already full, was divided by a new public pathway in the 1890s connecting Working Street with Cardiff Central Market. As part of the agreement for the new path, Cardiff Corporation agreed to take responsibility for the graveyard south of the path. This later became St John's Gardens. [8] The path is still owned by the church and is closed every Good Friday. Brass numbers on the path mark the location of graves and family tombs. [8]
In 1952 St John's became a Grade I listed building, [9] of exceptional architectural and historical interest.
The church serves as the priory church for Wales of the Order of Saint John.
The church's current organ was built in 1894 by "Father" Henry Willis. It was restored in 2005 by David Wells of Liverpool, funded by private donations and the Heritage Lottery Fund. [10] The completion of the restoration was marked with a concert by Thomas Trotter, attended by the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan and Lord Mayor of Cardiff. [11] In 2013 the British Institute of Organ Studies awarded it a Grade I Historic Organ Certificate, as an organ of exceptional interest. [12]
Llandaff Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and three Welsh saints: Dubricius, Teilo and Oudoceus. It is one of two cathedrals in Cardiff, the other being the Roman Catholic Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral in the city centre.
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John Prichard was a Welsh architect in the neo-Gothic style. As diocesan architect of Llandaff, he was involved in the building or restoration of many churches in south Wales.
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St Mary's Church was an Anglican church in Cardiff, Wales, which stood at the south end of the current St. Mary's Street, from 1107 until 1620. After severe flood damage it was abandoned in 1701 and later replaced at a different location in 1843.
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St Margaret's Church is a nineteenth-century Church in Wales parish church in the suburb of Roath, Cardiff, Wales. It includes the mausoleum of the Marquises of Bute.
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The Church of St John the Baptist is a medieval church in Llanblethian in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. Believed to have been built in the 12th century, the church boasts an unusual tower, consistent with the style more common in the south west of England. It underwent extensive restoration in the late 19th century, undertaken by C. B. Fowler of Cardiff. The Church of St John was listed as a Grade I building on 22 February 1963.
The Church of the Holy Cross is a medieval church in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. Initially a chapel of ease to Church of St John the Baptist, Llanblethian of Cowbridge as a medieval market town. Believed to have been built in the 13th century, the church has an unusual tower design. It has undergone several restorations including one by John Prichard in 1850–52. The Church of the Holy Cross was listed as a Grade I building on 12 May 1963.
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We hear with great satisfaction that the tender of Messrs Thomas and Norris for repewing this church has been taken. The committee of the management met on Wednesday last, and out of three tenders that were sent in accepted that of the above respectable firm, as it was £95 less than one of the two, and £101 4s. 4d. less than the other. The whole of the work is to be completed and the church reopened for Divine Service before Christmas under heavy forfeitures.