St Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic Church ( cy, Llanfair Yr Angylion) is located in

Canton, Cardiff Canton ( cy, Treganna) is an inner-city district and community in the west of Cardiff, capital of Wales, lying west of the city's civic centre. Canton is one of the most ethnically diverse of Cardiff's suburbs, with a significant Pakistani an ...

. It is part of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff ( la, Archidioecesis Cardiffensis; cy, Archesgobaeth Caerdydd) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church which covers the south-east portion of Wales and the county of Herefordshire in ...

. It opened on 3 November 1907. The parish priest is Rev. Canon David Hayman.

Church history

The church was designed by architect

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (1849–1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches. Life Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, London, the son of the ar ...

and built by W. T. Morgan. The foundation stone of the church was laid on 20 January 1907 by Bishop Hedley and later that year, on 30 October, the altar was consecrated before the church opened on 3 December. The tower was added in 1916. The church is built using roughly dressed Pennant

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and cut Bath stone ashlar dressings, in a late 12th-century French style. In January 1941, the sacristies and St Ann's Chapel in the church were destroyed by an air raid to be rebuilt 10 years later. In 1952, the church was temporarily closed to repaint and clean the church as well as to install new lighting and amplifiers. The church was repainted again in 1962. It became a listed building in 1975, as a building of quality by a noted ecclesiastical architect. In 1991 the church came under the care of the Archdiocese of Cardiff after many years under the

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 ...

community. On 11th October 2022, it was announced that the parish priest, Canon Peter Collins, was to be the new Bishop of East Anglia, in succession to Bishop Alan Hopes. He was ordained bishop and installed as the fifth Bishop of East Anglia at St John the Baptist Cathedral in Norwich on 14th December 2022. In January 2023, Archbishop Mark O'Toole appointed Rev. Canon David Hayman, the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cardiff, and parish priest of Pontypool, as the new parish priest. The church underwent an internal reordering in 2000. The parish has taken responsibility for the parish records of Sacred Heart, Leckwith, Cardiff.

Schools

The church is closely linked to St Mary's R C Primary School in Canton, and to Mary Immaculate High School in

Wenvoe Wenvoe ( cy, Gwenfô) is a village, community and electoral ward between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby are the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the site of the former HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse ...

. Catholic higher education for ages 16 to 18 is provided by St David's Catholic College in

Penylan Penylan is a district and community in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, known for its Edwardian era period houses and spacious tree lined roads and avenues. Situated to both the north and south of the A48 dual carriageway, it ...

, supported by the church.

In the news

The babies of Charlotte Church and

Gavin Henson Gavin Lloyd Henson (born 1 February 1982) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre. Between 2000 and 2019 he played for Llanelli, Swansea RFC, the Ospreys, Saracens, Toulon, Ca ...

were baptised at St Mary of the Angels church. Ruby Henson was baptised on 28 June 2008 by Fr. Delaney OSB, who Church described as her favourite priest. Their son Dexter Lloyd Henson was christened in August 2009. In Charlotte Church's ''Confessional Song'', one line is ''"Poor old Father Delaney"'', referring to the St Mary's parish priest.

Church Groups

*Altar Servers Guild of St. Stephen *St Mary's Music Group *Choir *Ministers of the Word *Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion *Parish Council *Parish Advisory Council *Children's Liturgy *Offertory group *

Saint Vincent de Paul Society The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

*Prayer Group

External links

Church Website

Parish YouTube channel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canton, Saint Mary of the Angels Grade II listed churches in Cardiff Saint Mary Roman Catholic churches in Cardiff Frederick Walters buildings Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in Wales Roman Catholic churches completed in 1907 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom 1907 establishments in Wales Romanesque Revival church buildings in the United Kingdom