The Swansea Devil, also called Old Nick, is a wood carving of the Devil in Swansea, Wales. It was carved by an architect whose designs for St. Mary's Church had been rejected by a committee. Some years later when designing an office building across the road, he placed a carving of Satan facing the church and prophesied "When your church is destroyed and burnt to the ground my devil will remain laughing". This prophecy later came true when the church was bombed during the Second World War.
In the 1890s it was decided that St. Mary's Church in the centre of Swansea would be rebuilt. The task of designing the new church was put to tender. Among those who applied were a local architect and Sir Arthur Blomfield. The committee accepted Blomfield's designs and the church was built. The local man took his rejection as a slight against his talent. After several years a row of cottages adjacent to the church became available for purchase. The offended architect bought these houses, and tore them down. In their place he erected a red brick building to house the brewery offices, on which he placed a carving of Satan, facing the church. The local man is reputed to have prophesied: "When your church is destroyed and burnt to the ground my devil will remain laughing." [1]
Swansea, being a major strategic target in South Wales, was bombed heavily during World War II. One of the buildings destroyed during the three night blitz in February 1941 was St. Mary's Church. The building on which Old Nick was mounted was not hit and remained standing through the war thus allowing Old Nick to continue laughing over the burnt remains of the church. [2]
In 1962 the brewery offices were torn down, while St. Mary's was rebuilt to the original designs. The devil was left to rot in a garage in Hereford [3] ,until a local historian returned him to Swansea during the 1980s. [2]
Occupying the land of the brewery offices is now the Quadrant Shopping Centre, opened in 1979. Once returned to Swansea the devil was placed as close to his original location inside the shopping centre as possible without directly offending the church goers. There was notable religious objection to its reinstallation, and when the Quadrant was refurbished the carving was placed in storage. After public outcry aided by the local newspaper the South Wales Evening Post , the Devil was placed back once more to watch over St. Mary's.
In 2019, the carving was donated to the Swansea museum by the owners of the Quadrant. [1]
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, northwest London 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Greater London since 1965. Hendon falls almost entirely within the NW4 postcode, while the West Hendon part falls in NW9. Colindale to the northwest was once considered part of Hendon but is today separated by the M1 motorway.
East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Llanelli is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary and is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire. The town is 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Swansea and 12 miles (19 km) south-east of Carmarthen. The town had a population of 25,168 in 2011, estimated in 2019 at 26,225. The local authority was Llanelli Borough Council when the county of Dyfed existed, but it has been under Carmarthenshire County Council since 1996.
Lee, also known as Lee Green, is an area of South East London, England, straddling the border of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located northwest of Eltham and southeast of Lewisham. Historically it has been part of the historic county of Kent.
St Clears is a town on the River Taf and a community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,995. The community includes the small settlements of Bancyfelin and Pwlltrap. It is bordered by the Carmarthenshire towns and villages of Meidrim, Newchurch and Merthyr, Llangynog, Laugharne Township, Llanddowror, Eglwyscummin, Llanboidy and Llangynin.
Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period.
Morriston is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county.
Clydach is both a village and a community in Swansea, Wales, within the Clydach ward and the Llangyfelach parish. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Swansea city centre. In 2011, the population was 7,503. Welsh is the first language of 24 per cent of the population and both Welsh and English language schools are available. The village lies close to the M4 motorway which can be accessed via the bypass or old road via Ynystawe. The community includes part of the village of Glais.
Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centre; Alexandra Road, High Street, Wind Street and the Castle; Parc Tawe; and the Maritime Quarter extending down to the seafront.
The Swansea Museum in Swansea, Wales, UK is the oldest museum in Wales, created for and by the Royal Institution of South Wales in 1841 to house its collections and provide research and learning facilities.
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.
Watson Fothergill was a British architect who designed over 100 unique buildings in Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. His influences were mainly from the Gothic Revival and Old English vernacular architecture styles.
Pennard is a village and community on the south of the Gower Peninsula, about 7 miles south-west of Swansea city centre. It falls within the Pennard electoral ward of Swansea. The Pennard community includes the larger settlements of Southgate and Kittle. the population as of 2011 was 2,688.
Pirie Street is a road on the east side of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It runs east–west, between East Terrace and King William Street. After crossing King William Street, it continues as Waymouth Street. It forms the southern boundary of Hindmarsh Square which is in the centre of the north-east quadrant of the city centre.
Christ Church is an Anglican church in the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Opened as the town's third Anglican church in 1860 to serve a rapidly developing residential area and to accommodate poor worshippers who could not afford pew rents at the fashionable St Leonard's and St Mary Magdalene's Churches, the original building was superseded by a much larger church built next to it between 1873 and 1875. Prolific ecclesiastical architect Sir Arthur Blomfield's simple Gothic Revival design forms a landmark on one of St Leonards-on-Sea's main roads, continues to serve a large area of the town and maintains a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It has been described as Blomfield's "finest achievement in Sussex" and "one of the main centres of Anglo-Catholic worship in Southern England". The interior fittings are the best of any church in the borough, and the design has been called one of Blomfield's most successful. St John the Evangelist's Church, founded as a daughter church nearby in 1865, also continues to thrive as a separate parish church. Historic England has listed Christ Church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
John Leopold DenmanFRIBA was an architect from the English seaside resort of Brighton, now part of the city of Brighton and Hove. He had a prolific career in the area during the 20th century, both on his own and as part of the Denman & Son firm in partnership with his son John Bluet Denman. Described as "the master of ... mid-century Neo-Georgian", Denman was responsible for a range of commercial, civic and religious buildings in Brighton, and pubs and hotels there and elsewhere on the south coast of England on behalf of Brighton's Kemp Town Brewery. He used other architectural styles as well, and was responsible for at least one mansion, several smaller houses, various buildings in cemeteries and crematoria, and alterations to many churches. His work on church restorations has been praised, and he has been called "the leading church architect of his time in Sussex"; he also wrote a book on the ecclesiastical architecture of the county.
Christ Church Cathedral is a heritage-listed Anglican cathedral complex at Duke Street, Grafton, Clarence Valley Council, New South Wales, Australia. The cathedral was designed by John Horbury Hunt and built from 1874 to 1884 by Reynold Brothers (brickwork) and G. J. T. Lawson (woodwork). It is also known as Cathedral Church of Christ the King and Grafton Anglican Cathedral. The property is owned by the Anglican Diocese of Grafton. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 March 2003.
The Pinwill sisters were British professional woodcarvers in Devon from 1890 onwards. Although in their era there were women who produced stained glass, sculpture, wood and metalwork for churches, those women were largely unacclaimed and regarded as amateurs. The profession of ecclesiastical wood carving was one entirely carried out by men. The sisters not only became skilled at the craft, but also set up a professional workshop business. Despite the challenges of two world wars, two fires and the departure of two of the sisters, the Pinwill workshop produced innovative ecclesiastical carvings in wood and stone for more than 60 years and for over 180 churches in Devon, and Cornwall and further afield, becoming one of the most successful wood carving businesses in the South-West of England. Their vast body of work, gradually adapting from the complex, intricate designs of the Gothic Revival through to the pared-down, plainer style of twentieth-century Modern, is recognised as being of great skill, flair and worth.