St Peter's Church, Roath is the oldest surviving

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

church in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, the capital of Wales. It is administered by the

Rosminians The Rosminians, officially named the Institute of Charity ( la, Institutum Caritatis), abbreviated I.C., are a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded by Antonio Rosmini and first organised in 1828. Th ...

History

When the

(the Institute of Charity) first arrived in Cardiff in 1854, the town had a significant Roman Catholic population but only one place of worship, St David's chapel in the town centre (this building would be replaced in the 1880s by the church which became Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral). In 1858, a site was secured near

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of L ...

(then called Plwcca Lane) on a 999-year lease, and the necessary funds were raised. Owing to

Anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

in the area, plans to extend East Grove, forming a junction with Richmond Road, were scrapped because the objectors did not want a Catholic church fronting a main street. Charles Hanson designed the original church in 1860. The church was initially designed with a

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

and

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

, but these designs proved over-ambitious, and when the church was opened in 1861, it was without either. The early days of St Peter's were not easy. The area was much-afflicted by poverty and drunkenness, and was far away from the Catholic districts, making work challenging for early priests, and low attendance figures were often a problem. After the conversion of

John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, (12 September 1847 – 9 October 1900) was a landed aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist, and architectural patron. Succeeding to the marquisate at the age ...

to Catholicism in 1868, and a rigorous fundraising program, the situation began to improve, with the founding of a school in 1872. The presbytery was also added, in Gothic Revival style, designed by W.P. James. In 1883, the tower was finally added at the expense of Lord Bute (the planned spire was never added). The stained glass in the sanctuary dates from 1882, each window costing £160. A statue of

St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupati ...

over the church entrance was added in 1912, and additional dormer windows were installed in 1926. As the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

in the city centre had been very badly damaged during a 1941 air raid, episcopal functions moved into St Peter's between 1941 and 1945. St Peter's was also hit by an

incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, ...

, seeing extensive damage to the roof of the

lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel ...

. This damage was later repaired, and the church was finally consecrated in 1948 after clearing the last of its debts. A

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use.

was built in 1955, and the church became a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

in 1975. The school was moved to a different location in 1977, and the old building was demolished in 1981. Between 1970 and 1987, the priest at St Peter's was Father Gil Jones, who welcomed the visiting

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

to Cardiff on 2 April 1982. The church was extensively redecorated in 2001.

Organs

The first organ at St. Peter's was a two-manual English-style instrument built by Thompson and Shackell. It was completely rebuilt in 1963 by R.V. Gill. In 2004, a large donation in the will of

Sir Julian Hodge ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only ...

allowed for a new organ to be installed, which was named in his honour. The three-manual Continental-style organ was built by the Swiss firm and was completed in 2006. The inaugural recital was given by

Dame Gillian Weir Dame Gillian Constance Weir (born 17 January 1941) is a New Zealand-British organist. Biography Weir was born in Martinborough, New Zealand, on 17 January 1941. Her parents were Clarice Mildred Foy ( Bignell) and Cecil Alexander Weir. She r ...

on 4th November 2006.

Gallery

File:Statue of the Madonna in St Peters Church, Roath, August 2020 02.jpg, Statue of the Madonna File:Altar of St Peter's Church, Roath, October 2020 (3).jpg, The main altar File:Relics of Antonio Rosmini and Pope John Paul II at St Peter's Church in Roath, Cardiff, October 2020.jpg, Relics of Antonio Rosmini and

File:St Peters Cardiff Octo 202010964928-1549-4869-AB40-BFC3CE5963AD 11.jpg, A side chapel File:St Peters Cardiff Octo 202010964928-1549-4869-AB40-BFC3CE5963AD 12.jpg, Pulpit

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roath, St Peter's Churches completed in 1883 Roman Catholic churches in Cardiff Grade II* listed churches in Cardiff

Roath Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. There is no community council for the area which is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adam ...

Rosminian churches in the United Kingdom