St Paul's Church is a Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

parish church opened in 1890 in Grangetown,

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 ...

. Renovation work commenced in 2023 after a period of closure. Community consultation alongside further fundraising and renovation will continue after this period.

History and architecture

In 1885 Lord Windsor gave one acre of land to locate a church for the new Cardiff suburb of Grangetown. He financed the initial building costs of £4000. The foundation stone was laid in 1889 and the building was opened by the

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a ...

on 5 February 1890. A

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

was added in 1902. Designed by the

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

architect

John Coates Carter John Coates Carter (1859–1927) was an English architect. Born in Norwich, Carter is notable for his design and restoration to churches in South Wales, and in particular Glamorgan. He was partnered with John Pollard Seddon from 1884 to 1904 an ...

(working with

J. P. Seddon John Pollard Seddon FRIBA (19 September 1827 – 1 February 1906) was a British architect, working largely on churches. His father was a cabinetmaker, and his brother Thomas Seddon (1821–1856) a landscape painter. Born in London, he was educat ...

), St Paul's has been described as being the "finest" of his surviving early churches.

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

's '' Buildings of Wales'' describes the building materials as "highly eccentric". The walls consist of Pennant rubble with dressings of pink

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. It also has an early and unusual example of concrete construction; major elements are formed from concrete mixed with pebbles, crushed brick and sandstone chippings. The church has been 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 ...

since 1975. In April 2015 a fundraising campaign was launched in the hope of restoring a stained glass window installed in the church in 1920 to commemorate the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The window, portraying battle scenes and religious imagery, was to be retained as part of the building's partial conversion to housing.

Doctor Who

St Paul's Church was a filming location for the 2005 ''

Father's Day Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United ...

'' episode of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

series, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. Filming took place between 11 and 18 November 2004. During a family wedding the church is attacked by alien creatures called Reapers.

Recent events

In 2008, facing repair costs of £1 million and with a congregation much smaller than in its heyday, St Paul's asked the Church of Wales for permission to sell the old building. Major repairs were required to the roof and ongoing annual running costs were estimated at £160,000. In 2010 its freehold was put on the market with an asking price of £300,000. In February 2012 an offer was received to buy the church and convert it into a training room and offices. However, in early 2016 with no successful sale taking place, the church instead planned to work with Wales and West Housing to convert part of the building into apartments. The church gifted part of the building to the housing association. The last service took place on 5 February 2016, led by the assistant Bishop of Llandaff. A smaller part of the church, comprising the old

and

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, would be retained for use by the congregation. As of 2018, the plans for converting the nave have not been followed through, and the church remains the same. Renovation work began in May 2023. Extensive groundwork has taken place in order to relay a floor, after which the roof and windows will be repaired to make the building watertight. The church will not reopen immediately, but after a period of community consultation, further fundraising and renovation work. The church congregation continue to meet in the hall next door at 8am and 10:30am on a Sunday morning.

References

External links

*
BBC filming of ''Father's Day'' at St Paul's (photo story)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Church, Grangetown Grangetown Grangetown Arts and Crafts architecture in Wales Grangetown, Cardiff Grangetown Churches completed in 1890