St John the Baptist, Cardiff

Mainly 15c.; renovated and extended 19c.

This is the parish church of the city of Cardiff. It was founded in the early medieval period (see "The Church"), but the present building dates mainly from the fifteenth century, when the splendid tower was added by an architect named only as Hart (see Lewis). As the 1897 Illustrated Guide to Cardiff says, "it is crowned with an embattled parapet of delicate tracery, with angular pinnacles of open work of light and beautiful character, and the doorway and belfry windows are ornamented with finely pointed and richly moulded arches." [Commentary continues below.]

Photograph, caption, and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee

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The church was both renovated and extended in Victorian times to seat 1,500 people (Illustrated Guide, 81). One of its treasures is the stone reredos designed by John Prichard, with carved and gilded Old and New Testament figures by William Goscombe John. Also dating from the early 1890s is the fine Henry Willis organ, which has recently been restored (see "The Church"). A later addition to the fine array of Victorian windows wos the beautiful war memorial window by Christopher Whall.

Links to Related Material

• Goscombe John's gilded reredos
• Morris & Co's window depicting Biblical figures
• W.F. Dixon's window, Jesus at the well with the Woman of Samaria
• W. F. Dixon's window, Jesus and Mary Magdalene at the House of Simon the Leper
• W.F. Dixon's window, Jesus as the Good Shepherd Meeting the Sick, Blind and Lame
• Joseph Bell of Bristol's St. John the Evangelist with Moses and St. Paul
• Christopher Whall's war memorial window

Sources

"The Church." The Friends of St John's Church, Cardiff. Web. 1 March 2011.

The Illustrated Guide to Cardiff and Its Neighbourhood. Cardiff: Western Mail, 1897. Internet Archives. Web. 1 March 2011.

Lewis, Samuel. "Capel-Callwen — Cardiff." A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849). British History Online. Web. 1 March 2011.

Newman, John. Glamorgan: Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan (The Buildings of Wales series). New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004.

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Created 1 March 2011
Last modified 20 January 2023