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Key Image St John the Baptist/Sant Ioan Fedyddiwr
3 St John St
CF10 1GJ Cardiff/Caerdydd
United Kingdom
Denomination: Anglican
Congregation: City Parish of St John the Baptist (Diocese of Llandaff, Archdeaconry of Llandaff, Cardiff)
Geogr. Coordinates: 51.48074° N, 3.17833° W
Geo Location
Reference year: 1443
Architectural style: Gothic (Perpendicular)
Building type: Basilica
Description: Five-aisled hall church in the Perpendicular style, with a square tower at the west end
Name derivation: From St John the Baptist
Building material
  • 19th cent. extensions in carboniferous limestone
Bells
  • Eleven bells (six hung in 1708, two in 1814, two in 1893; the eleventh bell is rung during services, at the Sanctus)
Organ
  • Built in 1894 by “Father” Henry Willis, restored in 2004–5 by David Wells, Liverpool; more than 2,200 pipes, 38 stops, 3 manuals and pedal
Windows
  • “Bute windows”, commissioned by the Marquess of Bute (1855) and showing paternal arms of the donor and arms of the families who possessed Cardiff Castle from 1091 to the mid-19th cent.
  • Stained glass window in the north aisle by Morris & Co. (1869, top row of apostles by William Morris himself)
  • Stained glass east window of the chancel, so-called “Vachell window” in commemoration of Charles Tanfield Vachell (d. 1914), design by Ninian Comper
  • Stained glass windows in the Chapel of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (Priory for Wales) in the south aisle: East window showing the most distiguished grand masters of the order (modern, after 1943), side window in memory of HRH Princess Marina depicting the scene of the Good Samaritan (Francis Spear, 1971)
Noteworthy
  • Lady Chapel (“Herbert Chapel”), to the north of the chancel, enclosed by a pre-Reformation screen, with monument to two brothers, Sir William Herbert (Keeper of Cardiff Castle, d. 1609) and Sir John Herbert (Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, d. 1617)
  • Carved pews by Messrs. Thomas & Norris, Cardiff (1851)
  • Reredos in the chancel with carved figures representing the origin and development of the sacramental idea in the Bible (design by John Prichard, figures by William Goscombe John)
  • Reredos in the Chapel of the Order of St John (Ninian Comper)
History:
1180:   First recorded mention of a “St John’s Chapel”
1243:   Appointment of a “vicar” to the chapel
1404:   Destruction of the original chapel during the rising of Owain Glyndwr
About 1443:   Construction of the nave of the current church
About 1473:   Addition of the tower under the patronage of Lady Isabella Neville
1897:   Completion of a major restoration and extension (begun in 1886), including addition of the outer aisles and construction of a new chancel; architect John Prichard
About 1960:   Construction of block with vestry, kitchen and toilets in the south west corner of the church
2002:   Completion of a further restoration of the tower and its ring of bells
Important persons:
Architect:  Prichard, John (1817–1886, Welsh architect of the Gothic Revival)
Artist:  Morris, William (1834–1896, British painter, architect, poet, craftsman, engineer and printer; one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts Movement)
Comper, Ninian (1864–1960, Scottish architect of the Gothic Revival)
Patron:  John the Baptist (-5–29, prophet, Jesus’s baptizer, martyr)
Sources
HistoryPoints.org: Organ of St John’s Church, Cardiff, http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=organ-of-st-john-s-church-cardiff, retrieved 20/03/2019
The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist: The City Parish Church of St. John Baptist, Cardiff (information leaflet), Cardiff
Wicipedia: Eglwys Sant Ioan Fedyddiwr, Caerdydd, https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglwys_Sant_Ioan_Fedyddiwr,_Caerdydd, retrieved 20/03/2019
Wikipedia: St John the Baptist Church, Cardiff, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_the_Baptist_Church,_Cardiff, retrieved 20/03/2019
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