The Church of St Cadoc, sometimes referred to as "The Cathedral of Gower", is a

Grade I 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 ...

is an Anglican church located in the hamlet of Cheriton on the north side of the

Gower Peninsula Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, UK. The present church was built in the 13th century and is believed to have replaced an earlier church within the manor of Landimore. Restoration was carried out on two occasions in the 19th century and again in 1934. The font may have been salvaged from the earlier church which was abandoned because of the encroaching sea.

The original church

The first church in the district is supposed to have been built by the family of Payn de Turberville, who granted it to the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

of St John at

Slebech Slebech was a community (prior to 1974, a civil parish) in Pembrokeshire, Wales, which is now part of the combined community of Uzmaston and Boulston and Slebech, a sparsely populated community on the northern shore of the Eastern River Cleddau. ...

in about 1165. The exact site of the earlier church is uncertain. The name "Cheriton" derives from "church town", but this name is thought to have been given in recognition of the new church.

The present church

The church has a

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed ...

with a defensive intent. The interior of the church contained medieval wall paintings, including scriptural quotations and vine-leaf patterns, but these were destroyed during the Victorian era. Eighteenth-century maps show the church in its present location, near a

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

, which went out of use in the 19th century, and "Great House", which was demolished at a similar date. In the 1840s, Rev W. L. Collins had the original

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

s removed, and installed a new window, which was itself replaced during the restoration of the mid-1870s, carried out by Rev J. D. Davies, the Rector of

Llanmadoc The Gower Peninsula ( cy, Gŵyr) in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It contains over twenty villages and communities. Villages Bishopston Bishopston (, or historically ''Llanme ...

and author of ''A History of West Gower''. Diocesan architect

John Prichard John Prichard (6 May 1817 – 13 October 1886) was a Welsh architect in the neo-Gothic style. As diocesan architect of Llandaff, he was involved in the building or restoration of many churches in south Wales. Personal history John Prichard wa ...

was involved in this work, as he was in numerous other restorations of the period.

References

External links

The Gower – Places of Worship

The Church in Wales
{{Authority control Cheriton, St Cadoc