St German's Church () is a nineteenth-century

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () 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 position is currently held b ...

parish church in

Adamsdown Adamsdown (sometimes or , ) is an inner city area and community in the south of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Adamsdown is generally located between Newport Road, to the north and the mainline railway to the south. The area includes C ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

dedicated to St

Germanus of Auxerre Germanus of Auxerre (; ; ; 378 – c. 442–448 AD) was a western Roman clergyman who was bishop of Autissiodorum in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a high-ranking government official to devote his formidable energy towards the pr ...

, (the ''Garmon Sant'' of Welsh tradition). The building, located on the corner of Star Street and Metal Street, is a Grade I

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 ...

History and Architecture

The first church in this locality was established in 1857 in a converted barn and was known as ''Splott Chapel'' and as ''Christ Church''. In 1874 this was replaced by a second-hand building made of iron. The population was growing rapidly and this building soon became inadequate. By 1881 the parish had raised to build a new church.Jean Rose, ''The Church of St German, Roath, Cardiff: A Guide for Visitors'', St German's Church (2010), pp. 1–2

Lord Tredegar Baron Tredegar, of Tredegar in the County of Monmouth, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 16 April 1859 for the Welsh politician Sir Charles Morgan, 3rd Baronet, who had earlier represented Brecon in Parliamen ...

donated the land and laid the foundation stone of the new church in April 1882.History of St German's Church
St German with St Saviour website. Retrieved 2013-06-11. St Germans Adamsdown Cardiff Crucifixion

St Germans Adamsdown Cardiff Crucifixion

The new church was designed by architect

George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott and worked with C. E. Kempe. He was in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career and was ...

, part of architectural partnership Bodley & Garner. It was built between 1881 and 1884.

Newman Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...

describes the church as "tall, spacious and elegant" and of "widespread influence locally". Among other features of note, high on the south wall of the chancel of St. German's is a particularly finely carved and painted organ case – recently painstakingly restored to its former glory – which was given to the new church by the Rev. Francis Edward Nugee, who spent most of the 1880s as a young curate in the parish of Roath under the Rev.

Charles Smythies Charles Alan Smythies (6 August 18447 May 1894) was a British Colony, colonial bishop in the 19th century. Life Smythies was born in Colchester, the son of the Rev. Charles Norfolk Smythies, vicar of St-Mary-at-the-Walls there, and his wife Is ...

, who was vicar of Roath until 1883; Smythies went on to become Bishop of

British Central Africa The British Central Africa Protectorate (BCA) was a British protectorate proclaimed in 1889 and ratified in 1891 that occupied the same area as present-day Malawi: it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. British interest in the area arose from visits ...

(later renamed Nyasaland, now Malawi) and Nugee later married his half-sister, Edith Alston. In addition to the church there is a school and clergy house next door, built contemporaneously by the same architects. St German's church was consecrated in March 1886 and the new parish of St German was created in the same month. The Reverend Canon Jarel Robinson-Brown was licensed as vicar of St Germans on 23rd March 2024.

In the media

The

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme ''

The Daily Service ''The Daily Service'' is a short Christian service broadcast every weekday morning between 09:45 and 10:00 on BBC Radio 4 Extra. History In 1926, British novelist Kitty Cordeux began a persistent letter-writing campaign urging the BBC to ...

'' has been broadcast from St German's on several occasions.Daily Service 25/06/2012
BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 2013-06-19.

References

External links

*
Imaging the Bible in Wales database
– List of artworks at the church {{DEFAULTSORT:German, Saint, Church Churches completed in 1884 Adamsdown Gothic Revival church buildings in Wales Grade I listed churches in Cardiff George Frederick Bodley church buildings