A selection of our historic churches

Clyne Chapel

During the 19th century, Swansea emerged as Britain's major centre of copper smelting, producing 90% of the world's supply. This industrial boom led to significant population growth, and new churches were built throughout the city to serve the communities of incoming workers.

Clyne Chapel in Mumbles contains fittings and materials imported from abroad by its industrialist owner, William Graham Vivian. The church was built in 1907 to form part of the Clyne Castle estate, bought by Vivian in 1860, and includes medieval and renaissance fittings from Spain, Italy and Portugal. These include the ends of the hood moulds on the window at the north end of the nave, which are re-used Italianate grotesque heads and festoons, and an Italian marble font. In addition, the fifteenth-century wooden pulpit is thought to be from Rome, the polychrome marble altar and altar rails were imported from Sicily, and one of the mosaic walls in the chancel walls is believed to be a 13th century panel from St Bartholomew's in Rome.

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Patricio

While most of Wales' churches were being stripped of their Catholic furnishings during the Reformation, St Issui's in Patricio, just outside Crickhowell, appears to have escaped the notice of the Royal Commissioners. Perched on a hillside overlooking the Grwyne Fawr valley, its isolated location is no doubt the reason that it has one of the best-preserved pre-Reformation interiors in Wales.

Built on the site of the hermit's cell of St Issui, one of the most important features in this originally Norman church is its spectacular rood screen and loft, which was constructed c. 1500. Made of Irish bog oak, its elaborate carvings represent the finest of medieval craftsmanship, with representations of saints and fire-breathing dragons among its decoration.

St Issui's also retains another rare feature in the form of its murals. Wall paintings were a standard component of parish church decoration in the medieval period, but very few survived the Reformation, when they were defaced or simply whitewashed during the waves of iconoclasm that came to define sixteenth century religion. St Issui's has several seventeenth century paintings, including the Stuart Royal Arms and the texts of the Paternoster, Decalogue, and the Apostles' Creed.

There are two paintings in the church, however, which may date to the pre-Reformation period. The first of these is a fragmentary depiction of the Doom, or the Day of Judgement, located on the west wall of the nave. Located on the same wall is a well-preserved memento mori, a reminder of one's mortality, in the form of a skeleton holding a spade, an hourglass and a knife.

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St Bilo's

Named after a local saint and daughter of the fifth century Welsh King Brychan, St Bilo's retains some very early features including two diaper-patterned lintel stones over the porch and north door dated to c. 1100, and a Norman bowl font.

The liturgical changes that took place in the Anglican Church can be traced throughout the architecture of St Bilo's – from the remains of the late Medieval rood screen that separates the nave and chancel to the twentieth century altar base. A wooden altar rail installed c. 1630 suggests that St Bilo's was willing to worship according to the principles laid out by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury and religious adviser to Charles I between 1633–1640. Laud's policy on altar rails was controversial, as Communion was often celebrated on a wooden table in the nave in the years following the Reformation.

Laud claimed that a wooden rail placed in front of the altar was primarily aimed at keeping dogs from entering the sanctuary, but many puritans felt that the separation of nave and chancel represented an unwanted return to Catholic practice. St Bilo's altar rails not only represent a physical barrier between the clergy and the congregation, but also the theological divide that threatened to tear the Anglican Communion apart in the seventeenth century. In 1640, Laud's principles were formally laid out in a new set of canons, but mass demonstrations revealed the depth of the public's hatred of the Archbishop. Laud was charged with high treason in December that year, and was executed in 1645, during the Civil War.

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St Gastyn's

St Gastyn's Church, located on the edge of Llangors Lake near Brecon, is one of the finest examples of a Gothic Revival church in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon. Although it is likely medieval in origin, the current church was completely rebuilt in 1850 by J L Pearson, a committed Tractarian and Ecclesiologist. St Gastyn's has the highly decorated exterior of a typical Gothic Revival church, from the gargoyles and apex crosses to the lancet windows embellished with quatrefoil tracery. Inside, St Gastyn's is no less richly decorated, with patterned tile floors, stencil decorations to the walls, and colourful stained-glass windows by Clayton and Bell, one of the most prolific glass workshops of the 19th century.

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St Teilo's

St Teilo's in Caereithin, Swansea, is one of the Diocese's more modern churches. It was designed in the early 1960s by George Pace, one of the most prominent ecclesiastical architects of the period, who also worked on the interior of Llandaff Cathedral. St Teilo's was one of the first Anglican churches in Wales in which modern materials and techniques were used to create a single, open space, achieved using laminated trusses to support the roof. This allowed for a more corporate style of worship, which became increasingly popular from the 1960s onwards. The building's glazing arrangement is also striking, employing a series of single windows in the west wall to flood the interior with light.

The design and internal arrangement of St Teilo's may have been born from a desire to create a more open worship space, but it also created a building that is more easily adapted for other uses. The church now shares its space with St Teilo's Community Cwtch, a family centre managed by Faith in Families. As the Diocese enters its next century, buildings such as St Teilo's demonstrate how churches can be used not only for worship, but also as multi-functional spaces for the wider community.

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