St Elvan's Church is a

Grade II* listed 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 I ...

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 t ...

church in the centre of the town of

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

. It was built in 1851–1852, largely at the instigation of John Griffith, vicar of Aberdare from 1847 until 1859. On 11 December 1849 Griffith wrote at length to the Incorporated Church Building Society in relation to the position of the Church of England in the parish of Aberdare. The population of the parish was close to 14,000 people and increasing at a rate of approximately a thousand each year, yet the ancient parish church of St John's could accommodate fewer than two hundred people.

Foundation

A campaign to build a new church at Aberdare was launched in 1850 when a public meeting was held, and within nine days a £1,000 had been raised by public subscription. By February 1851, subscriptions amounted to £2,500, just £500 short of the £3,000 that was deemed necessary to pay for the new building. Andrew Moseley was chosen as the architect to draw up the plans for the church. By February 1852, however, it was realised that insufficient funds were available and another campaign for public subscriptions took place. Within a few months, the work had been completed and St Elvan's Church was officially opened by services led by Alfred Ollivant, Bishop of Llandaff, on 30 September 1852. Special trains were laid on from Cardiff, Swansea and Neath, among other place, to mark the occasion. The congregation included strong representation from the gentry families of Glamorgan, as well as schoolgirls from the school run at Dowlais by

Lady Charlotte Guest Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest (née Bertie; 19 May 1812 – 15 January 1895), later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English aristocrat who is best known as the first publisher in modern print format of the ''Mabinogion'', the earliest prose li ...

, dressed in Welsh costume. St Elvan's was consecrated on 25 September 1854.

Official Website

The official website and accompanying social media for St Elvan's Church is available at https://www.stelvans.com

Sources

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References

{{Coord, 51.7132, -3.4451, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed churches in Rhondda Cynon Taf