The Point was a music venue in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

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 ...

, located in the deconsecrated Grade II- listed St Stephen's Church.

Church

The Point was situated in the old merchant's quarter of

Mount Stuart Square Mount Stuart Square is a residential and commercial square in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in the Butetown area of the city. Originally developed in the late 1800s as a residential location for nearby dock workers, it quickly became a centre ...

. The focal point of the square was St Stephen's church, that would later be turned into The Point. The church was designed by architect E. M. Bruce Vaughan and constructed between 1900-2 to replace a temporary

iron frame The term iron frame describes the structural use of either cast iron or wrought iron in the columns and Beam (structure), beams of a building. While popular in the 19th century, the iron frame was displaced by the steel frame in the early 20th centu ...

church and opened as the chapel of

St. 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 ...

's. In 1912, it became a separate parish under the name of St. Stephen. The church was designed in a

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

, the interior dominated by a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with six bays of pointed arches and an arch-braced roof. The exterior includes a bell tower at the northeast corner with an octagonal

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

. In May 1975 it became 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 ...

, presently listed as "The Point (Formerly St Stephen's Church)". The church was deconsecrated in 1992.

Entertainment venue

The church was used as a community centre and theatre until 2001, when it was purchased by its current owners. Renovations in 2003 transformed the church to a venue for live music performance and regular club-nights, including Bogiez. The entire building was restored and much of the original architecture was kept, including all the

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows. The Point is now equipped with a fully functional and permanent stage, lighting system, in-house PA, and projection system. In early 2009 The Point announced its closure, citing reasons such as continued noise complaints from neighbours, which had led to a costly refurbishing and soundproofing bill. Singer

Cerys Matthews Cerys Elizabeth Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the " Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s. Matthews now ...

weighed in her support for the venue, saying her 2006 gig there was "one of the most memorable gigs I’ve ever played. The acoustics are brilliant and it’s a very intimate experience with the audience... Singers come to Wales to play places like The Point so we can’t really afford to lose them."

Notes

External links

What's on at The Point Bogiez Rock Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Point, Cardiff, The Point Point Butetown Former music venues in Cardiff Former churches in Cardiff

Church

Entertainment venue

See also

Notes

External links