St Tudwal'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 ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Barmouth Barmouth ( cy, Abermaw (formal); ''Y Bermo'' (colloquial)) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in the county of Gwynedd, northwestern Wales, lying on the estuary of the Afon Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. Located in the Historic coun ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

. It is situated on the King Edward Road leading from Barmouth to

Llanaber Llanaber is a linear coastal village in north west Wales, about north of Barmouth on the A496 road. The Irish Sea lies directly to the west and the Rhiniog mountains directly to the east. Facilities Its main attraction is the large beach whic ...

. It was built in 1905 and is in the Dolgellau Deanery of the

Diocese of Wrexham The Diocese of Wrexham, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff. History The diocese was erecte ...

History

Origin

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worship started in

in 1890. A Fr. Donovan held services in the rooms of local houses until a small church was erected on Park Road. This was opened on 11 September 1891, on the very day that the steeple of the nearby St John's Church fell down. At the time, even though over forty years had elapsed since the re-establishment of the English and Welsh hierarchy, Wales had very few Catholics and the Catholic churches in the north of Wales came under the administration of the

Diocese of Shrewsbury The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England. The diocese includes rural are ...

. In 1895, they came under the Vicariate Apostolic of Wales, then in 1898 it became the

Diocese of Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It is one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff. History On 12 May 1898, the Apos ...

. St Tudwal's was one of the few Catholic churches in the north of Wales at this time. It was created and persisted during this time of flux for Catholics in north Wales.

Construction

In the 1900s, a new priest arrived, Fr. C. B. Wilcock from

St Helens, Merseyside St Helens () is a town in Merseyside, England, with a population of 102,629. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, which had a population of 176,843 at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census. St Helens i ...

. He worked to have a new, larger, church built to accommodate the increasing size of the local congregation.Jones, E. Rosalie ''A History of Barmouth and its Vicinity'' (Barmouth, 1905) p. 122 The church was completed in 1905 and was opened by the first

Bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia is the Ordinary of the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff. The Diocese of Menevia covers an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshi ...

, Francis Mostyn. The inscription on the foundation-stone, translated from Latin reads: :::''In the year of Our Lord Incarnate the fifteenth of August 1904. On the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, our Lord Francis, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See, Bishop of Menevia, laid this first stone in the honour of the same glorious Virgin Mary and Saint Tudwal.''

Anniversary

On 1 September 1939, it was reported in the ''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...

'' that the church celebrated the 31st anniversary of its consecration. The priest at the time was Fr. Patrick Collins. He organised a Mass to be said in memory of the church's founder Fr Wilcock. A choir from De La Salle College in Fr Wilcock's home parish of the Church of St Mary, Lowe House in St Helens were on holiday in nearby

Dyffryn Ardudwy Dyffryn Ardudwy () is a village, community and electoral ward in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd, Wales consisting of several small, almost conjoined, villages including Coed Ystumgwern, Llanenddwyn (), Llanddwywe, Talybont and Dyffryn Ardudwy. ...

and came to sing at the Mass.

Parish

The parish also contains St David in Seion Church in

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 197 ...

. St David's church was built in 1814 as a Seion Wesleyan Methodist chapel, and was given to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

by 1998. St David's Church in Harlech has a Saturday Mass at 6:00pm and St Tudwal's church has a Sunday Mass at 11:00am. At St Tudwal's there are weekday Masses at 10:00am and a Saturday Mass at 9:00am.

Gallery

File:St Tudwal's Church, Barmouth Front Entrance.JPG, View from road File:Tower of St Tudwal's Church, Barmouth.JPG, Tower File:Statue on top of St Tudwal's Church, Barmouth.JPG, Statue of St Mary in tower File:St Tudwal's Church, Barmouth Front sign.JPG, Church sign

References

External links

Barmouth Parish page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barmouth, Saint Tudwal Grade II listed churches in Gwynedd Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905

Saint Tudwal Saint Tudwal (died c. 564), also known as Tual, Tudgual, Tugdual, Tugual, Pabu, Papu, or Tugdualus (Latin), was a Breton monk, considered to be one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. Life Tudwal was said to be the son of Hoel Mawr (Hoe ...

Roman Catholic churches in Wales Gothic Revival church buildings in Wales 1905 establishments in Wales 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom