St Mary's Church

Swansea, United Kingdom

There was a church on the site of St Mary's since circa 1328, erected by Henry de Gower, Bishop of Saint David's. One Sunday morning, in 1739, the roof of the nave collapsed into the church while the congregation was waiting to enter the building. The whole structure was re-built apart from the tower. 1822 saw the church being lit by gas for the first time with thirty six lamps. The church underwent complete renovation between 1879 and 1882 by Vicar Dr Morgan. In 1896, the church was flattened and rebuilt again under the designs of Arthur Blomfield by Dean Allan Smith, though some parts of the old church survived the re-development. In February 1941 the church was extensively damaged by Bombing during the Blitz. It was not rebuilt until the 1950s.

From the 1890s the Swansea Devil stood on a set of buildings facing the west side of the church, constructed by a disgruntled rival of Blomfield's, angry at the commissioning of Blomfield's designs over his own.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 18th century
Category: Religious sites in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Stan Voice of Wales (12 months ago)
A tranquil & spiritual place in the heart of the City
Stephen Grayson (13 months ago)
Good organ and good acoustics!
Liz Bradley (2 years ago)
Beautiful church in the centre of Swansea.
Tony Jones (3 years ago)
Lovely church. Attended many services and concerts here.
Peter Marosan (4 years ago)
An old church in the middle of the town, with full of live when we visited. As I see choirs and musicians give concerts here and the acoustic sounds pretty good. The roof inside is not covered by stone, so it gives a special taste for it. It is rebuilt after the WW2, so it is not precisely authentic, but works very well.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built in 161 AD by the Athenian magnate Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It lasted intact until it was destroyed and left in ruins by the Heruli in 267 AD.

The audience stands and the orchestra (stage) were restored using Pentelic marble in the 1950s. Since then it has been the main venue of the Athens Festival, which runs from May through October each year, featuring a variety of acclaimed Greek as well as International performances.