St Anne's Church, Roath

St Anne's Church, Roath is a disused church on the corner of Snipe Street and Croft Street, in Roath, Cardiff, Wales. It closed in 2015 after 128 years of worship.

History

The church began in 1872 when the vicar of Roath, Reverend Puller, founded a school chapel, St Clement's, there. At the time, the district's population had grown from 300 to 9000 in twenty years, and the existing places of worship were no longer adequate. The founding stone of the present church was laid in 1886. The church was designed by J. A. Reeve, a pupil of William Burges. Reeve's original design was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1887, but it proved unrealistically elaborate, and only the chancel and spire were built as intended, with the nave being of a plainer, more modest design than the original plans. Even so, the church's opening ceremony was attended by 500 people, who crowded into a space designed for 350. The north aisle was installed in 1891.

In 1904-5 the church briefly operated a pub called ''The Moon and Stars'' located across the street. This project ceased when the church's vicar departed.

The south aisle was not built until 1937. In 1991, the half and single bay at the western end of the church were partitioned off to form a church hall.

Decline & Closure

St Anne's was never an affluent church. The area was not well-heeled, and even in the early years, there was competition from other churches in the district (most of which did not last as long). In 2000, a much-needed grant from the Lottery Heritage Fund was secured to repair the deteriorating roof, but the church continued to deteriorate in the following years. The adjoining church school closed in 2011 after 132 years, having only twenty pupils by this time. In 2015, the church's congregation had dwindled to around 12 and when it was learnt that the church required £250,000 worth of repairs, the decision was taken to close. The last service was held on Christmas Eve 2015.

Reopening/Urban Crofters

In January 2019 the church was reopened as Urban Crofters, a new missional community church in the Church in Wales.

Bishop June licensed Revd. Will Souter as the vicar of a new church plant in the Roath area of Cardiff called Urban Crofters.

Will & Jude Souter had Attended St Anne's final service on Christmas Eve in 2015 before it closed down, and so was aware of the then redundant Church building in Roath. Its location close to their home and the layout of its hall and adjoining rooms were ideal for their practical needs, so they started exploring the idea of opening the church up again.

When they shared their story and vision with Bishop June in the summer of 2018, she encouraged them to pursue the possibility of re-opening St. Anne’s with Archdeacon Peggy Jackson. After an autumn of meetings and discussions, Bishop June created a new conventional district (a church without a geographical parish) based at St. Anne’s in January 2019. After eight months of practical preparations, they started two Sunday morning services from September 2019: a 9am Eucharist and a 10.30am informal service aiming at being accessible for guests.

Since then, many changes and improvements have been made to the church building, and a grant from the James Pantyfedwen Foundation has been used specifically for new toilets. Other additions include a complete electrical re-wiring, new floors & professional grade kitchen and office.

References

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Churches completed in 1887
Roath, St Anne
Grade II listed churches in Cardiff
Roath