St John The Baptist Church, Cardiff
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St John the Baptist Church is a Grade I listed parish church in
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. Other than
Cardiff Castle Cardiff Castle () is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roma ...
, it is the only medieval building in the
city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
.


Description

''Black's Picturesque Guide through Wales'' (1851) described St John's as "an ancient and finely proportioned edifice, with a noble quadrangular tower, surmounted by pierced battlements and four open gothic pinnacles... It is justly admired, and forms a conspicuous feature in every view of the town." The same remains true today, with good views of the church from Church Street, Trinity Street and Working Street in the city centre. John Newman, in his ''Glamorgan'' volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, describes the pinnacled west tower as a "magnificent marker". At a height of over 40 metres the tower is in four stages, faced in grey limestone ashlar with details in buff coloured Dundry stone.


History

The church was built in 1180 as a chapel of ease for the larger St Mary's Church, itself founded by
Benedictine monks The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, the ...
from
Tewkesbury Abbey The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury, commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey, is located in the town of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Conside ...
. Originally constructed of
blue Lias The Blue Lias is a formation (stratigraphy), geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest ...
, a
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
stone with layers of fossilised shells, it was sourced from
Aberthaw Aberthaw () is an area containing the villages of East Aberthaw and West Aberthaw, on the coast of South Wales about west of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry. It is the location of Aberthaw Cement Works, Aberthaw Lime Works, and Aberthaw Power S ...
. The walls were then originally dressed with freestone - limestone sourced from Dundry. St John's was sacked during a rebellion of
Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...
in 1404. The church was rebuilt in the second half of the 15th century and given a perpendicular tower with a peal of ten bells. Today it still has a crown of openwork battlements, reminiscent of churches in the
West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
of England, and is dated c. 1490 because of the similar Jasper Tower of
Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral () is a Church in Wales cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and ...
which was built at this time. After the foundations of St Mary's were destroyed by the
Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
of 1607, the two churches were worked as a dual-location parish until all main services were moved to St John in 1620. In 1843, the 2nd Marquess of Bute paid for the construction of the Church of St Mary and St Stephen in Bute Street as a permanent replacement for St Mary's. This allowed the reconstruction of St John, with extensions to the church made in 1886–1897 using carboniferous limestone quarried from
Culverhouse Cross Culverhouse Cross () is a district straddling the boundary between Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the Community (Wales), community of Wenvoe. The district is centred on a major traffic roundabout that links West Cardiff to the M4 m ...
. The churchyard wall was also rebuilt, using original Lias mixed with red sandstone in the walls, topped with coping stones of Devonian sandstones from the
Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...
. In 1851 the Cardiff firm of Messrs. Thomas & Norris were engaged for repewing of St John's with the work to be completed by Christmas that year. St John's stained glass windows date from circa 1855, in the north chapel, with references to the Bute family. Those in the north inner aisle date to 1869, by
Morris & Co Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was a furniture, furnishings and decorative arts manufacturer and retailer founded by the artist and designer William Morris with friends from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Pre-Raphaelites. With ...
, with a top row of apostles designed by
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
himself. The church was increased in width with outer aisles added to St John's in 1889 and 1891. The old aisle windows were re-set and all the new building was re-surfaced with Sweldon limestone. The graveyard, already full, was divided by a new public pathway in the 1890s connecting Working Street with Cardiff Central Market. As part of the agreement for the new path, Cardiff Corporation agreed to take responsibility for the graveyard south of the path. This later became St John's Gardens. The path is still owned by the church and is closed every
Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
. Brass numbers on the path mark the location of graves and family tombs. In 1952 St John's became a Grade I listed building, of exceptional architectural and historical interest. The church serves as the priory church for Wales of the
Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (religious society), military order. It was founded in the Crusader states, crusader K ...
.


Organ

The church's current organ was built in 1894 by "Father" Henry Willis. It was restored in 2005 by David Wells of Liverpool, funded by private donations and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The completion of the restoration was marked with a concert by Thomas Trotter, attended by the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan and Lord Mayor of Cardiff. In 2013 the
British Institute of Organ Studies The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...
awarded it a Grade I Historic Organ Certificate, as an organ of exceptional interest.


Gallery

File:St John the Baptist church, Cardiff - geograph.org.uk - 857321.jpg, View from the east File:Cardiff St.John - Außen 1.jpg, The 14th-century tower File:Tŵr Eglwys Sant Ioan Fedyddiwr, Caerdydd.jpg, Church tower from the west File:Cardiff St.John - Außen 5 Hauptportal.jpg, Entrance File:Cardiff St.John - Außen 6 Seitenportal.jpg, Side entrance File:St John the Baptist Church - interior - geograph.org.uk - 1153102.jpg, Interior File:St John's Font, Cardiff - geograph.org.uk - 1422477.jpg, Baptismal font File:St John the Baptist Church - stained glass window - geograph.org.uk - 1153117.jpg, Stained glass window File:Sant Ioan Fedyddiwr Saint John the Baptist church (Cardiff) - inside 72.JPG, Stained glass window File:Sant Ioan Fedyddiwr Saint John the Baptist church (Cardiff) - inside 03.JPG, Altar and reredos done as a memorial to Lord Kitchener File:St John The Baptist City Parish Church (35038544296).jpg, Interior


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardiff, John the Baptist Buildings and structures completed in 1180 15th-century church buildings in Wales
John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
Church in Wales church buildings in Cardiff
John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
Anglican churches dedicated to John the Baptist