24878

 

II  

Designated  

26/02/2001  

08/06/2023  

Catholic Church of St Dyfrig  

 

Rhondda Cynon Taff  

Pontypridd  

Pontypridd  

Treforest  

308333  

189278  

S  

Prominently sited at the S end of Broadway, W of the River Taff at Machine Bridge.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

In 1853 a Catholic mission was established at Treforest and in 1857 a stone Gothic chapel & School was built in Wood Road (old Park Terrace – later known as the Institute). This continued to serve the local Catholic population until, under the direction of the priest Canon McManus, land on Broadway adjacent to the Taff was leased in 1921 for the building of a new church, presbytery and hall. By 1924 the presbytery and hall, the latter dedicated to the those killed in World War I, had been constructed. The foundation stone for the church was laid on 4 November 1926 by Archbishop Mostyn and the building was completed within the year and consecrated by the archbishop on 14 November 1927. It was built to the designs of A G Lynham (1879-1958), partner in the Pontypridd firm of Thomas & Morgan & Partners from 1919 until retiring in 1948. St Dyfrig’s is the only known catholic church by Lynham - he also designed a Methodist church at Cyncoed, Cardiff (later replaced by the listed Alex Gordon & Partners church) and a masonic hall at Pontyclun, Llantrisant. The contractors for the church (and hall) were Messrs. Knox and Wells of Cardiff. The basilican theme used here was later used in the inter-war years by the architects F R Bates & Son for the Benedictines at St Joseph, Aberavon, built in 1930. The church has a striking vaulted interior, with furnishings that originally included a high altar, Lady Altar and a statue of the Sacred Heart donated by Miss M M Davies of Danygraig House, Llantrisant, and a pulpit donated by Councillor Seton. It was altered in the 1950s, possibly with the addition of the day chapel on the S side. After the Second Vatican Council it was reordered with the original altar, altar rails and font removed and a new forward altar installed and consecrated by Archbishop Murphy of Cardiff on 6 November 1975. Furnishings including marquetry artworks were installed in 1999 by local artist and parishioner Penanne Crabbe.  

The design is a variation of the basilican theme, combining Romanesque and Italo-Byzantine elements. It is a steel frame structure, brick clad with stone dressings and the slate roof is behind coped gables. At the W end is a 5-bay gabled narthex wider than the nave and with pilaster strips. The central bay has a small round-headed window above a foundation tablet and is flanked by Romanesque doorways, both with nook shafts, roll-moulded arch and outer order of billets. Narrow round-headed windows are in the outer bays. Above the central bay is a polygonal turret with moulded cornice, and a copper dome, at the apex of which and set against the W wall of the nave, is a crucifixion sculpture in stone. The gable ends of the narthex have oculi. The 6-bay nave has shallow aisles with pilaster strips and round-headed windows, while each clerestory bay has 3 stepped round-headed windows with stone surrounds and under a round brick relieving arch. On the S side the 3 eastern bays have a chapel with roughcast walls and a confessional set slightly back, both under catslide roofs and with narrow small-pane windows. The lower and narrower chancel is a polygonal apse with high round-headed windows in each facet. On the S side of the chancel is a vestry, also abutted by the confessional. The brick vestry has projecting boarded eaves, and windows with stone lintels and sills. The E wall has 5 windows, the S wall 3, while the entrance is on the E side, where a boarded door is under an overlight, with a window to the L.  

The W doors lead into separate vestibules with niches for stoups. The N vestibule also has a stair to the organ and gallery with plain balusters and newels. The 6-bay nave has a plaster tunnel vault with broad ribs descending to ground level as wall shafts. The arcades have brick piers and plastered round arches. The tall chancel arch is similar, and has an impost band continuous with the clerestory sill bands. The chancel has a stepped marble floor and continuous panelling around the apse. The end bay of the nave has a later screen defining an extension to the vestibule, below the panelled gallery front. The confessional on the S side has ribbed doors, the chapel replaced glazed doors. Fittings include: forward altar with white stone mensa set on red brick uprights with grey banding; brass domed tabernacle on a reconstituted marble plinth with a mosaic symbol of the Eucharist; oak pulpit (original) decorated with foliage and crosses; Italo-Byzantine sanctuary crucifix by Crabbe with marquetry detail and wooden relief corpus made from one of the pews at the W end; Stations of the Cross, an image of Our Lady of the Valleys (at E end of N aisle) and Baptism of Christ (at E end of S aisle), also by Crabbe; various small stained glass windows. Pews modern replacements, modern hardwood font.  

Listed for special architectural interest as a distinctive and well-preserved church which is a rare example of the inter-war revival of an early Christian basilican style. It is also important for its townscape value and has group value with the adjacent Presbytery and Church Hall.