Visit-a-Church
Key Image St Mary’s Church/Eglwys y Santes Fair
St. Mary Street
LD3 7AA Brecon/Aberhonddu
United Kingdom
Denomination: Anglican
Congregation: Brecon St Mary (Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, Archdeaconry of Brecon, Greater Brecon Deanery)
Geogr. Coordinates: 51.94694° N, 3.39055° W
Geo Location
Reference year: 1150
Architectural style: Gothic
Building type: Hall Church
Description: Gothic hall church with a square west tower
Name derivation: From Mary, the mother of Jesus
Noteworthy
  • Dog door in the south porch (13th cent.)
Organ
  • Mitte 19. Jh.
Windows
  • Stained glass window in the wall of the south aisle with Nativity scenes (W. D. Caröe, 1928)
  • Stained glass window in the chancel “The Risen Christ” (John Petts, Abergafenny, 1989)
Noteworthy
  • Norman column in the north arcade
  • Choir stalls by W. D. Caröe
History:
12th cent.:   Built as a chapel of ease for the Priory Church (as witnessed by a Norman column and a grant by the Town Council)
14th cent.:   (or 15th cent.) Rebuilt in the Gothic style
1521:   Construction of the Buckingham Tower by Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham and Marcher Lord of Brecknockshire, at the cost of £ 2,000
21/10/1857:   Re-opened after extensive restoration
20th cent.:   Further changes by the architect W. D. Caröe
21th cent.:   Opening of the Tower Café
Important persons:
Patron:  Mary (c. 22 BCE – c. 48 CE, mother of Jesus [featured article])
Pensaer:  Caröe, William Douglas (1857–1938, British architect, particularly of churches; major figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement)
Dimensions:
Tower Height [m]:  27
Sources
Brecon St Mary: St Mary the Virgin Brecon – History, www.stmarysbrecon.org.uk/history, retrieved 29/05/2019
Griffith, Steven: Eglwys Blwyf y Santes Fair, Aberhonddu – Taflen Ôl Troed
Griffith, Steven: Yr Eglwys a’r Gymuned Drwy’r Amser — 12-21 ganrif
Griffith, Steven: St Mary’s Parish Church Brecon – Footprint Leaflet
Wikipedia: St Mary's Church, Brecon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary's_Church,_Brecon, retrieved 29/05/2019
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