Eglwys y Santes Fair - St Marys Church 02

St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the centre of Haverfordwest,

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, Wales, prominently visible at the top of the town's High Street. The church dates from the 12th century and 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 ...

History

The main body of the church was built in the late 12th century and was probably rebuilt in the 1240s, including a tower, porches and north aisle, after being damaged by

Llewelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually "List of rulers of Wales, Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wal ...

in 1220. An upper level of clerestory windows was added during the 15th century. The tower originally had a timber

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

clad in

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, though it was removed in 1802 after becoming dangerous. The church's interior has a fine timber panelled ceiling with moulded beams, rafters and ribs, and carves bosses at the intersections. It dates to c. 1500. The church organ dates from 1737, by Harris & Byfield, with two keyboards. Of the three main churches in the town, St Mary's was originally the church for the merchants. St Martins of Tours was for the castle and the aristocracy while St Thomas á Becket was for the common people. St Mary's joined with St Thomas a Becket in the 1940s under one vicar. When St Thomas closed because of insurmountable repair bills, the congregation met at St Mary's church. St Martins finally merged with the parish in 2013. St Mary's has been a

since 1951, now listed as Grade I as a "major medieval church with exceptionally well-preserved detailing."

References

External links

St Mary's Church websiteArtwork at St Mary's Church, Haverfordwest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haverfordwest, Saint Mary's Church

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

13th-century church buildings in Wales Grade I listed churches in Pembrokeshire Ewan Christian buildings