St Alban-on-the-Moors Church, Splott, also known simply as The Cardiff Oratory or St Alban's Church, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in

Splott Splott ( cy, Y Sblot) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Spl ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Since 2019, the church is administered by the Fathers and Brothers of the Cardiff Oratory.

History

Original building

The initial church was an iron church finished in 1891, with parts from other churches (including

Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David, also known as St David's Cathedral, Cardiff, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales, and is the centre of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff. Located in Charles ...

and St Peter's Church). This was rebuilt as St Joseph's Church in

Gabalfa Gabalfa (, ) is a district and community in the north of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is characterised by a four-lane fly over road at the Gabalfa Interchange, where the A48 road meets the A470 road (North Road) which leads from Car ...

when the new St Alban's building was finished.

Current building

The current building was designed by the Newport architect F. R. Bates. The presbytery was completed later. St Alban's became a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1997.

Cardiff Oratory

In May 2019, the

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

transferred the administration of the church and its parish from the

Rosminians The Rosminians, officially named the Institute of Charity ( la, Institutum Caritatis), abbreviated I.C., are a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded by Antonio Rosmini and first organised in 1828. The ...

to the Cardiff Oratory. The priests there moved to St Peter's and St Joseph's, the two other Rosminian parishes in Cardiff. Since the Oratorians' arrival, the church has seen extensive restoration works, commensurate with the increase in attendance at Masses and other liturgies. The Oratorians have expanded the available Masses and devotions offered at the church. In May 2020, a wedding was held during a national

COVID-19 pandemic lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

, allegedly against Welsh Government guidance. It was also reported that the wedding was illegal because the required notice had not been given. In the end, no citations or other action were taken by police in response to allegations of violating government guidance. In June 2021, in conjunction with the parish's patronal feast day, the Oratorians arranged for a first-class

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

St. Alban Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded ...

to be solemnly enshrined in the church by the Abbot of Farnborough.

Architecture

The church is built in the

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

style, using

Pennant sandstone The Pennant Measures is the traditional name for a sequence of sedimentary rocks of the South Wales Coalfield. They were also referred to as the Upper Coal Measures and assigned to the Westphalian 'C' and Westphalian 'D' stages of the Carbonifero ...

and

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

. Its towers are unusual, having both a central rectangular tower and a west octagonal tower. Construction was finished in 1911. The new building was officially opened on 16 July 1911.

Liturgy

In addition to the Usus Recentior form of the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

, the Oratorians offer regular celebrations of the Usus Antiquior and the

Ordinariate Use The Anglican Use is an officially approved form of liturgy used by former members of the Anglican Communion who joined the Catholic Church while wishing to maintain "aspects of the Anglican patrimony that are of particular value". The use's mos ...

. Sung and solemn celebrations of the Divine Office are offered on every Sunday and

solemnity In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his earthly father Joseph, or another important sain ...

. The

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, also called Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament or the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, is a devotional ceremony, celebrated especially in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in some other Ch ...

is celebrated six days each week, with a weekly High Mass on Sundays in English and in Latin.

References

External links

Cardiff Oratory

British Listed Buildings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Alban-on-the-Moors Church Roman Catholic churches in Cardiff Oratorian communities in the United Kingdom Grade II listed churches in Cardiff Roman Catholic churches completed in 1911 Gothic Revival church buildings in Wales 1891 establishments in Wales