St Padarn's Institute is a theological training college owned by the

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 ...

, located in

Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...

in the north of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It operates as a residential training college for its full time ministers. The origins of St Padarn's are in St Michael's College, 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 ...

training college founded by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

in 1892. In 1907 St Michael's relocated to Llandaff. Among its many alumni was the poet

R. S. Thomas Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introducing ''Song at the ...

. The original building on the site was a house by

John Prichard John Prichard (6 May 1817 – 13 October 1886) was a Welsh architect in the neo-Gothic style. As diocesan architect of Llandaff, he was involved in the building or restoration of many churches in south Wales. Personal history John Prichard ...

, the diocesan architect for

, built for himself. After his death, that building was incorporated into St Michael's. Other college buildings were constructed mainly to the designs of F. R. Kempson between 1905 and 1920. In the late 1950s, a chapel was built by

George Pace George Gaze Pace, (31 December 1915 – 23 August 1975) was an English architect who specialised in ecclesiastical works. He was trained in London, and served in the army, before being appointed as surveyor to a number of cathedrals. Mo ...

. The college had significant financial problems in the early 21st century and was eventually closed. The Church of Wales bought the site in 2016 and reopened it as St Padarn's.

History and development

was a noted ecclesiastical architect who undertook much church building and restoration in Wales, often in partnership with John Pollard Seddon. He established a practice 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 ...

, becoming 'Resident Diocesan Architect' in December 1844. In the mid-1860s, he began the building of a house, and attached office on the site of the future St Michael's. Following his death in 1886, control passed to the Church of England, which began the building of a residential

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for the training of priests. The main college buildings were designed by F. R. Kempson and built between 1904 and 1907. In the 1950s, a college chapel was designed by

. In 2016, following a review, ''A report on the future of theological training in the Church in Wales'', the college closed as a residential centre, with the training of priests devolved to individual dioceses. St Padarn's Institute took over the old St Michael's buildings and the mandate for training Welsh Priests and other licensed ministers was centralised at St Padarn's at the end of 2016. The Cardiff site became the home for residential and administration activities, but with training taking place under the name of St Padarn's Institute for all Church in Wales licensed and ordained ministers across the whole of Wales. Postgraduate courses in Chaplaincy studies, Youth, Children and Family Specialisms and general Theology developed under the umbrella of St Padarn's, with students attending from all parts of the UK. Through a programme called Theology for Life St Padarns also provides a part time degree course to hundreds of people across Wales.

Architecture and description

The architectural historian John Newman, writing in his ''Glamorgan'' Pevsner, describes the design of Prichard's office and house as "sprightly". He is less complimentary about F. R. Kempson's large-scale additions for the college, which he considers "bland and uninspired". Prichard's building uses a

polychromatic Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and a ...

blend of

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

and blue brick with stone dressings, while Kempson deployed

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

with

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

dressings. The college, and a block of three apartments within it, are designated Grade II.

Chapel

The most highly regarded building in the complex is the chapel by Pace. Constructed to a

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

design, Newman noted the influence of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

's Notre-Dame du Haut, and considered, "

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

has created a

numinous Numinous () means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring";Collins English Dictionary - 7th ed. - 2005 also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility." The term was given its present sense by the Ger ...

space by means of light and its reflection from smooth surfaces".

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 ...

describes it as Pace's best work in Wales, "an exceptional example of post-war ecclesiastical architecture". The chapel is designated 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 ...

Leadership

Wardens of St Michael's College

Glyn Simon William Glyn Hughes Simon (14 April 1903 – 14 June 1972) was a Welsh prelate who served as the Anglican Archbishop of Wales from 1968 to 1971. Early life Simon was born in Swansea, where his father was curate at St Gabriel's church. He was bap ...

(later Bishop of Llandaff and Archbishop of Wales) * Eryl Stephen Thomas (later Bishop of Monmouth and Bishop of Llandaff) * Harold John Charles (later Bishop of St Asaph) * O. G. Rees *

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

(later Bishop of Kensington) * John Rowlands * John Holdsworth * Peter Sedgwick 2004-2014 * Mark Clavier (Acting principal) 2014-2016

Principals of St Padarn's Institute

* Revd Professor Jeremy Duff (married to Jill Duff, the Bishop of Lancaster)

Deans of St Padarn's Institute

* Revd Dr Manon Ceridwen James * Revd Dr Mark Griffiths JP

Alumni

* Leonard Hodgson *

Alwyn Rice Jones Alwyn Rice Jones (25 March 1934 – 12 August 2007) was Bishop of St Asaph from 1981 to 1999 and also Archbishop of Wales, the Welsh province of the Anglican Communion, from 1991 to 1999. During Rice Jones' tenure, the Church of Wales refo ...

(Bishop of St Asaph and Archbishop of Wales) *

(poet and priest) * John David Edward Davies (Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Swansea and Brecon) * Gregory Kenneth Cameron (Bishop of St Asaph) * John Wyn Evans (Bishop of St David's) * Richard Pain (Bishop of Monmouth) * Paul Groves (poet and critic) * Martin Dudley (priest) * Raymond Roberts (Chaplain of the Fleet)

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Padarn's Institute Anglican seminaries and theological colleges Church in Wales Educational institutions established in 1892 1892 establishments in Wales Llandaff Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff Grade II listed buildings in Cardiff Former theological colleges in Wales