The Church of St Andrew, Penrice,

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, Wales dates from the 12th century. A

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, St Andrew's remains an active parish church in the parish of South-West Gower, in the

Diocese of Swansea and Brecon The Diocese of Swansea and Brecon is a Diocese of the Church in Wales, established in 1923 with Brecon Priory as the cathedral. The area of the diocese had formerly been the Archdeaconry of Brecon within the Diocese of St Davids. The dioce ...

History and description

The church is dedicated to St

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

, and was begun in the early 12th century. Later in that century, it was gifted by the de Penrice family, who had gained lands in

Gower The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards the Bristol Channel ...

during the

Norman invasion of Wales The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright. Initially (1067–1081), the invasion of Wales was not undertaken with the fer ...

, to the Order of

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

Slebech Slebech () was a community (prior to 1974, a civil parish) in Pembrokeshire, Wales, which is now part of the combined community of Uzmaston and Boulston and Slebech, a sparsely populated community on the northern shore of the Eastern River Cled ...

. In the 19th century the church was restored by Elizabeth Talbot of Penrice Castle. The church remains an active parish church in the

. The church is "large by Gower standards", and is constructed in a mix of local

Red sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains, cemented together by another mineral. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed o ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

Cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

in plan, it comprises a tower,

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 ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and two

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

. John Newman, in his ''Glamorgan'' volume of the ''Buildings of Wales'' Pevsner, describes these as the church's "most remarkable feature", noting their considerable width and depth. The porch transept was used for the conduct of parish business in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period, and subsequently as a schoolroom. The church is a

, its

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

listing record describing it as "a conservatively restored medieval church of interesting form". In the churchyard stands the grave of Captain Sir Christopher Cole RN KCB, who married into the Talbot family. His monument is an early example of

Celtic Revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gae ...

sculpture, dating from 1836.

Notes

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last = Newman , first = John , author-link=John Newman (architectural historian) , year = 1995 , title = Glamorgan , series = The Buildings of Wales , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DpUMspCtpNIC&q=The+Buildings+of+Wales%3A+Glamorgan , publisher = Penguin , location= London, UK , isbn = 0140710566 12th-century church buildings in Wales Grade II* listed churches in Swansea Grade II* listed buildings in Swansea