St Mary's Church () was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

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 ...

, which stood at the south end of the current St. Mary's Street, from 1107 until 1620. After severe flood damage it was abandoned in 1701 and later replaced at a different location in 1843.

Early history

St Mary's was founded as a

Benedictine 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, th ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in the 1080s, by Robert Fitzhamon Genuki quotes from ''The Old Parish Churches of Gwent, Glamorgan & Gower'' (1991), by Mike Salter. (also founder of

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 ...

in 1092). However, the site next to the

River Taff The River Taff () is a river in Wales. It rises in the Brecon Beacons as two rivers, the Taf Fechan ("little Taff") and the Taf Fawr ("great Taff") before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. At Cardiff, it empties into the Bristol Chan ...

was a poor one, susceptible to both continual flooding and

river erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is disti ...

. Even after stabilising the foundations, bodies from burials would regularly be washed down the river. The abbey withdrew the monks in 1211.

Destruction

In 1607, the area of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

bordering 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 ...

experienced a devastating flood. The flood has been at various later times been attributed to a

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

or a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

. The

Bristol Channel floods The Bristol Channel floods of 30 January 1607 drowned many people and destroyed a large amount of farmland and livestock during a flood in the Bristol Channel. The known tide heights, probable weather, extent and depth of flooding, and coastal f ...

washed away much of St Mary's

foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

and it slowly began to collapse. In 1620, the decision was made to make St John's the main parish church, which was originally just a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

. The two churches were worked as one parish, with all burials and some services continuing at St Mary's. In 1638, the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of St Mary's,

William Erbery William Erbery or Erbury (1604 – April 1654) was a Welsh clergyman and radical Independent theologian. He was the father of the militant Quaker Dorcas Erbery. Life Erbery was born in Roath, Cardiff. He graduated from Brasenose College, O ...

, was forced to resign, his

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Walter Cradock had his licence revoked, and senior members of the congregation were barred from the premises after they refused to read the Book of Sports. These people, together with others of a similar mind, formed the core of a new congregation that, after the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

and subsequent Restoration, in 1696 were granted land in Womanby Street which allowed them to build the first Trinity Church (later known as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

chapel). By 1678, with evidence from the visit of

Francis Place Francis Place (3 November 1771, London – 1 January 1854, London) was an English social reformer described as "a ubiquitous figure in the machinery of radical London." Background and early life He was an illegitimate son of Simon Place and M ...

and later essays from the Celtic scholar

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd (1660– 30 June 1709), also known as Edward Lhwyd and by other spellings, was a Welsh scientist, geographer, historian and antiquary. He was the second Keeper of the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, and published the firs ...

, both described St Mary's as being in ruins. The tower collapsed in 1680 and the last recorded burial in the churchyard took place in 1698. The last service was held in a roofless ruin in 1701, after which St Mary's was abandoned.

Replacement and later developments

In 1843,

John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, Knight of the Thistle, KT, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (10 August 1793 – 18 March 1848), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1794 and 1814, was a wealthy Scottish aristocrat and industrialist in Ge ...

donated the land for the construction of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (the present Church of St Mary and St Stephen) in Bute Street as a permanent replacement. The cost of construction, however, was met by public appeal for funds. The 1843 church was designed by Thomas Foster of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. The east end (by J. D. Sedding) was added in 1884, later enlarged in 1907. Wall paintings decorate the

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 ...

arch. The church is 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 ...

. The River Taff was diverted in 1850 (by

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...

) to create a site to build the

Cardiff Central railway station Cardiff Central () is a major station on the South Wales Main Line. It is located in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, down the line from London Paddington, via , and measured via . It is one of the city's two urban rail network hubs, along wi ...

, also resulting in the creation of Westgate Street. The Theatre Royal (later the ''

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

'' theatre) was built on the site of the old church in 1878. This is now the location of the current ''Prince of Wales''

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. The outline of a Gothic church was included on one wall of the theatre, denoting its location on the St Mary's church site.

Gallery

West side of The Prince of Wales, Cardiff.jpg, The outline of a Gothic church on The Prince of Wales pub, which gives a nod to the nearby site of St Mary's St Mary's Church Bute Street Cardiff.jpg, Church of St Mary and St Stephen, Bute Street

References

External links

History – Cardiff City Centre Parish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardiff, Saint Mary 12th-century church buildings in Wales Church in Wales church buildings in Cardiff

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

Destroyed churches in Wales Former Anglican church buildings in the United Kingdom