St Mary's Church, Swansea

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St Mary and Holy Trinity, Swansea
The Collegiate & Parish Church of St. Mary's
St Marys Church Swansea.JPG
Swansea UK location map.svg
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St Mary and Holy Trinity, Swansea
Location in Swansea
51°37′08″N3°56′35″W / 51.619°N 3.943°W / 51.619; -3.943
Location Swansea
CountryFlag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
Denomination Church in Wales
Previous denomination Catholic Church
Website https://www.swanseastmary.co.uk/
History
Status Collegiate church
Foundedearly 13th century
Founder(s) Henry de Gower, Bishop of Saint David's
Consecrated 1959
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II*
Designated1896,1950
Architect(s) Arthur Blomfield, Dean Allan Smith
Architectural type Church
Administration
Province Wales
Diocese Swansea and Brecon
Archdeaconry Gower
Deanery Afon Tawe (Swansea)
Parish Central Swansea
Clergy
Archbishop Most Revd Andrew John
Bishop(s) Right Revd John Lomas
Rector The Revd Canon Justin Davies
Curate(s) The Revd John Anthony
Archdeacon Jonathan Davies
Laity
Director of music Dr William Reynolds
Chapter clerk Mr Paul Murray
Churchwarden(s) Mrs Helen Murray MBE, Dr Bashir Masih Gill

St Mary's Collegiate and Parish Church is an Anglican church in the centre of Swansea, Wales, UK. It is considered the Civic Church of Swansea.

Contents

There was a church on the site of St Mary's since circa 1328, erected by Henry de Gower, Bishop of Saint David's. One Sunday morning, in 1739, the roof of the nave collapsed into the church while the congregation was waiting to enter the building. The whole structure was re-built apart from the tower. 1822 saw the church being lit by gas for the first time with thirty six lamps. The church underwent complete renovation between 1879 and 1882 by Vicar Dr Morgan. In 1896, the church was flattened and rebuilt again under the designs of Arthur Blomfield by Dean Allan Smith, though some parts of the old church survived the re-development. In February 1941 the church was extensively damaged by Bombing during the Blitz. It was not rebuilt until the 1950s. [1]

From the 1890s the Swansea Devil stood on a set of buildings facing the west side of the church, constructed by a disgruntled rival of Blomfield's, angry at the commissioning of Blomfield's designs over his own.

Bells

The tower contains eight bells, which were cast in 1959 by John Taylor & Co, Loughborough with the heaviest weighing 20cwt - 2qr - 12lb (1049.2 kg) in "E". Details of the bells:-

BellWeightNominal Freq.NoteDiameterYear CastFoundry
15-1-10 (271.9 kg)1326.0 HzE28.25 inches (71.8 cm)1959John Taylor & Co
25-2-12 (285.5 kg)1249.0 HzD#29.13 inches (74.0 cm)1959John Taylor & Co
35-3-10 (297.3 kg)1110.0 HzC#30.50 inches (77.5 cm)1959John Taylor & Co
47-0-18 (364.6 kg)986.0 HzB32.75 inches (83.2 cm)1958John Taylor & Co
59-2-9 (487.8 kg)876.0 HzA36.50 inches (92.7 cm)1959John Taylor & Co
611-0-1 (560.5 kg)825.0 HzG#38.50 inches (97.8 cm)1959John Taylor & Co
715-0-3 (765.1 kg)734.0 HzF#43.13 inches (109.6 cm)1959John Taylor & Co
820-2-12 (1049.2 kg)654.0 HzE48.00 inches (121.9 cm)1959John Taylor & Co

Images

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References

  1. Swansea heritage Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine