St Mellons Parish Church, also previously called St Melan's church, is a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

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, ...

in the

Diocese of Monmouth The Diocese of Monmouth is a diocese of the Church in Wales. Despite the name, its cathedral is located not in Monmouth but in Newport — the Cathedral Church of St Woolos. Reasons for not choosing the title of Newport included the existence of ...

Old St Mellons Old St Mellons ( cy, Pentre Llaneirwg) is a village, a community and a civil parish on the eastern edge of Cardiff, Wales. Lying to the east of the Rhymney River, it forms part of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is separated from the m ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. It was built around the 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.

History

It is not known when the church was first constructed however it first appears in historical records in 1254. It has been theorised that during their conquest of Wales, the Normans constructed it as their new church and dedicated it to St

Mellonius Saint Mellonius (229-314) was an early 4th-century Bishop of Rotomagus (now Rouen) in the Roman province of Secunda Provincia Lugdunensis (now Normandy in France). He is known only from a 17th-century 'Life' of little historical value, meaning ...

, the early 4th-century

Bishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

who was purported to have been born in the same area of Wales. Though the church had been standing since the 13th century, none of the original materials makes up substantial parts of the church as it currently stands. The only parts of the church that remain from its original construction are the base of a high cross in the churchyard and the base of the Baptismal font which was made from parts of a Norman pier. It is implied that church was reconstructed in the 14th century in view of the architecture of the tower and the design of the

stained glass window Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

s. Despite this, the majority of the church is pre- English Reformation. In the 19th century, the church underwent a series of restorations respecting its medieval designs. The renovations of 1858–9 to the main body of the church by George Gilbert Scott were sponsored by

Edward Augustus Freeman Edward Augustus Freeman (2 August 182316 March 1892) was an English historian, architectural artist, and Liberal politician during the late-19th-century heyday of Prime Minister William Gladstone, as well as a one-time candidate for Parliament. ...

Llanrumney Hall Llanrumney Hall ( cy, Neuadd Llanrhymnu) is Grade II* listed building in Llanrumney, Cardiff, Wales. The Elizabethan mansion was built in 1450, rebuilt in 1852 and refurbished around 1900. Throughout its history it has been a stately home and m ...

. Further work of circa 1869 was by

Charles Buckeridge Charles Buckeridge (''circa'' 1832–73) was a British Gothic Revival architect who trained as a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott. He practised in Oxford 1856–68 and in London from 1869. He was made an Associate of the Royal Institute of ...

. The chancel was restored in 1875 by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commiss ...

with the tower following in 1910. Some doors were reportedly made from the wood of warships dismantled at Dover after World War I, apparently including HMS ''Temeraire''.

Listing

St Mellons Parish Church was granted Grade I listed status in 1963 owing to it retaining the majority of its medieval fabric. The base of the cross in the churchyard was granted Grade II status in 1977 to group it with the rest of the monuments on the church site as a "vestigial medieval churchyard cross for group value with the church and other listed items in St Mellons churchyard".

References

External links

{{Commons category, St Mellons Church
Official website
Grade I listed churches in Cardiff Church in Wales church buildings