Old St Mary’s Church

Last time, we looked at Whitchurch (or whatever it was called) from the dark ages to the conquest, and where the original church might have been located. We finished by wondering whether a church might have been built close to the Norman ‘castle’, and whether this might have been where old St Mary’s Church stood?

This time we’ll explore the building in Old Church Road, and try to understand a little of what might have happened since 1266

Old St Mary’s was only demolished in 1904 and, like many of our older buildings in the village, lost to us. So, we’ll need to do some digging through the documents we still have

We’re fortunate that there are some old photographs of the church and churchyard. In addition, Cardiff University carried out an archaeological study in 1973 on the remains of the demolished church, prior to the establishment of the ‘garden of ease’ we now have. The study surveyed the demolished church and excavated under the demolition debris, exposing a lot of very valuable detail. This report can be found on www.cardiffparks.org website and is worth reading

Edgar Chappell suggests that demolished St Mary’s was built c14th century, and this is corroborated by the Cardiff University report. They suggest that the chancel was 13-14th century and the nave possibly a little later. The archaeologists also found shards of pottery and construction that could pre-date the church. So, there’s a possibility that ‘old’ St Mary’s was the site of an even older church, perhaps the one we looked at last time. Is this why Whitchurch is also referred to as Eglwys Newydd (the New Church)? John Leland refers to it by this name in c1536, although it was probably well over 200 years old by then!

So, what would St Mary’s have looked like in the 14th century? A possible clue can be gained by looking at St Teilo’s church, rebuilt at St Fagans. This is a slightly older church from west Wales, of similar size with a nave and chancel, with painted masonry walls, a stone-stated roof and small glazed windows

Sketch 1 below, is based on the Cardiff University report, and gives a good idea of the size and footprint of the church in 1876 (only 28 years before it was demolished). It’s intriguing to think that the chancel end might well comprise part of the original Norman church

What was the interior of the church like? Again, referring back to St Teilo’s, in medieval times, the limewashed internal walls could well have been painted with dramatic scenes from the Bible. There would have been no furniture then, with the worshippers standing. The church was tiny, so no more than 50-60 people. A small gallery was constructed in the 1780s to provide for the growing population, and (probably) box pews provided a little after

The churchyard was only granted permission for burials in 1616; before then many of the burials would have taken place in Llandaff

By the time of its demolition in 1904, the graveyard was completely full, and the report from Cardiff University in 1973 noted that the interior of the church was also full of ‘disarticulated skeletons’ indicating that the interior of the church had been used for burial for a considerable time before the graveyard was opened in 1616

The Cardiff University report also noted that the church had undergone many alterations over the years, with a porch added, external doors blocked up, with others opened. The chancel arch had been changed to a much smaller one, and the dry mortar floor partly covered with boarding in later times

The excavation also discovered the base of a font, just inside the south doorway, with possibly a conical clay plug. Parts of old stone roof tiles were found (the photographs taken just before demolition c1900 show a slated roof so the stone tiles pre-date these)

Shards of medieval pots and even fragments of Roman vessels were found. At the east end of the chancel a piece of wall mortar was found with some letters on it. They also found some dated 17th century roof timbers (possibly a repair) inscribed with the names of Llandaff carpenters

Where are all of these finds now? Does anyone know?

Sketch 2 below, shows the church and the churchyard as depicted on the 1876 OS map. The church footprint and graveyard are all as we find them today, but the access is quite different. The lychgate and stone walls opposite the Fox and Hounds all date from the 1970’s. Up until the 20th century, the entrance to the churchyard was from Ty’n-y-Pwll Road. There’s a suggestion of an old lychgate, but all that remains is an old stone pillar which might date back to the old entrance, or even earlier. All very intriguing

After 1974, all that is left is the ‘garden of ease’ provided by Cardiff Council. The churchyard has been cleared with many of the headstones moved to the boundary walls, and just the outline of the church left with an indication of the porch and entrance door

The landscaping of the 1970s has become quite overgrown and very weedy. In recent times, the Friends of St Mary’s Churchyard has been formed, and we need to record our grateful thanks to Zoe, Graham and their team of enthusiastic volunteers, befriending the gardens to maintain them (in spite of the covid), and to Cardiff Parks who have started to remove and replant some of the older planting

Does anyone have more information on the old church?

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