St Mary the Virgin Church is a

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to b ...

and ruined

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Caerau with

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

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 ...

. It was built in the 13th century on a Roman encampment and closed for the last time in 1973.

History

The ruins of the church stand on the site of

Caerau Hillfort Caerau Hillfort ( cy, Bryngaer Caerau) is a large triangular multivallate Iron Age hillfort, built on a previously occupied Neolithic site, occupying the western tip of an extensive ridge-top plateau in the western suburbs of Caerau and Ely ...

on a natural plateau at the Caerau end of a hill range extending from Leckwith to Caerau. The church is first mentioned in the Taxatio Ecclesiasticus of Pope Nicholas IV in 1291 and was probably built in 1260. Since then it has undergone many repairs and alterations. It was substantially rebuilt by the Rev Victor Jones in 1960-61. In 1973 it was closed and deconsecrated and has subsequently deteriorated into a ruin due to continuous vandalism. Since 1999 a group of former and current parishioners, the Friends of St Mary’s Church at Caerau, have been campaigning to preserve and commemorate the remains of the church. ''

Archaeologia Cambrensis ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society notes ...

'' in 1901 describes its 1848 state as follows: The building became Grade II listed in 1980.Church of St Mary, Caerau
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 31 August 2013.

References

External links

Friends of St. Mary's Church at Caerau

Parish of Caerau with Ely
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caerau, Mary the Virgin 13th-century church buildings in Wales Church ruins in Wales Grade II listed ruins in Wales Grade II listed churches in Cardiff History of Cardiff Former churches in Cardiff