St John's Church was the
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, ...
for
Abergavenny,
Monmouthshire until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries when the priory church of
St Mary's Priory became the parish church. The church then became a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
and is now part of a
masonic lodge
A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
. The only parts of the church that still remain are the tower and part of the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
.
History
The church was the oldest church in Abergavenny, with the tower and nave dating from the 14th century.
The bell in the tower was rung to signal the start of the
curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
when the town gates were closed at night.
When the nearby
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
priory (dedicated to
St Mary) was dissolved in 1536 it only had a prior and four monks and the nave of the priory church was already being used by the people of the town.
The people petitioned
Henry VIII to make St Mary's the parish church, which happened in 1539.
[
In 1542 or 1543,]tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
s (taxes) previously paid to St Mary's Priory, and also the tithes from the rectory at Badgeworth, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, previously paid to another Benedictine priory dedicated to St Mary at Usk.[
The building continued as a school until a new building opened in Pen-y-pound in 1998.][
In 1899 local architect E. A. Johnson (who was a freemason), converted the old school into a masonic lodge, known as the ''Second Philanthropic Lodge''. In 1902 the lodge was renamed to ''St. John's Lodge'', and is now known simply as Abergavenny Masonic Hall or Centre.]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 ...
on 5 July 1952.
References
External links
OS map at British Listed Buildings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abergavenny, Saint John
Saint John
History of Monmouthshire
Grade II* listed churches in Monmouthshire
Former churches in Wales
Masonic buildings in the United Kingdom
14th-century church buildings in Wales