St Peter's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church serving the parish of Ystradyfodwg and the village of

Pentre Pentre is a village, Community (Wales), community and electoral ward near Treorchy in the Rhondda valley, falling within the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The village's name is taken from the Welsh word Pentref, which translates as ...

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vil ...

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 is located on Pentre Road, with the south-west end of its churchyard fronting the main thoroughfare of Llewellyn Street ( A4058). It was built in the Early English style in 1887–1890 to the designs of ''Kempson and Fowler'' and was designated as 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 1991.

History

The church, known as the 'Cathedral of the Rhondda' due to its size, was commissioned by the Llewellyns of Baglan. Griffith Llewellyn was a co-founder of the Rhondda Engine Works and Madelina (), his wife, was responsible for the building and restoration of several churches. St. Peter's was designed by ''Kempson and Fowler'' at a cost of £20,000 (). Although Newman notes

St Michael's College, Llandaff St Padarn's Institute came into being in 2016. Until then the site belonged to St Michael's College, an Anglican theological college in Llandaff, Wales. St Michael's college was founded in Aberdare in 1892, and was situated in Llandaff from 1907 ...

to be

F. R. Kempson __NOTOC__ Frederick Roberston Kempson (1838 – 1923) was an English architect. Known as F. R. Kempson, he was born at Stoke Lacy in Herefordshire to William Brooke Kempson (1796 - 1859), the Rector (ecclesiastical)#Anglican churches, rector o ...

's most important work he describes the church at Pentre as his

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

. The church was built 1887–1890 and consecrated on 28 July 1890 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 ...

. It was Grade II* listed in 1991.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built of coursed rock-faced masonry with a Welsh slate roof. The dressings are of banded pink and buff stone matching the

polychromy Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

of the interior. The absence of supporting buttresses helps to accentuate the height of the tall four-stage west bell-tower with its north-east stair-turret and flat

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

ed top. The tower contains a clock and eight bells with the tenor weighing . There is also a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

over the west end of the chancel. The church is set within a sloping churchyard with a flight of stone steps leading to the south-west gable. The churchyard is surrounded by a stone wall with iron railings. At the southern corner of the churchyard, outside of the walls, is a Grade II listed fountain which is intricately carved in a Celtic style. A sketch of the church from shows the vacant space into which the fountain would be placed.

Interior

Contrasting

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 Carbonife ...

and brick have been used to create a pink and buff-coloured banded polychromy that is the predominant feature of the interior and is described by Newman as "relentless". The stained glass includes the east window by F. W. Dixon which is the most flamboyant element of the church. The fittings within the church make use of a variety of different coloured marble. The stone pulpit (featuring scenes from life of St Peter) has

colonnette A colonnette is a small slender column, usually decorative, which supports a beam or lintel. Colonettes have also been used to refer to a feature of furnishings such as a dressing table and case clock, and even studied by archeologists in Roman ...

s of red marble, whereas the font consists of a pink marble cylinder on grey colonnettes. The wall-to-wall

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

is of pink-veined marble with white figures under canopies in a style made popular in the 1860s by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

. The organ was built by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

in 1890 and restored by

Hill, Norman & Beard William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Limited (commonly known as Hill, Norman and Beard) were a major pipe organ manufacturer originally based in Norfolk. History They were founded in 1916 by the merger of Norman and Beard and William Hill & Sons ...

in 1998. The

Dictionary of Welsh Biography The ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (DWB) (also ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940'' and ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, 1941 to 1970'') is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to ...

notes that the flag captured at the

Battle of Toski The Battle of Toski (''Tushkah'') was part of the Mahdist War. It took place on August 3, 1889 in southern Egypt between the Anglo-Egyptian forces and the Mahdist forces of the Sudan. Since 1882, the British had taken control of Egypt and found ...

(1889) by Francis Grenfell (brother of Madelina) is in the church.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Online databases

* * * * * {{refend Grade II* listed churches in Rhondda Cynon Taf