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Anglican

Anglicans form the family of Christians closely related to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Whilst tracing their inheritance back to Christ and the earliest Christians and to the ancient Roman Catholic church, the sixteenth century Reformation was a crucial moment for Anglicanism.

Bishop

‘Bishop’ comes from the Greek word for ‘overseer’. So a bishop is a senior Christian minister authorised to have oversight for God’s people. As well as duties given to deacons and priests, bishops confirm and ordain.

Priest

‘Priest’ comes from the Greek word for ‘elder’. Priests in the Church in Wales are those authorised specifically to proclaim forgiveness of sins, preside at the Eucharist and bless God’s people, as well as other responsibilities.

Home Pobl Dewi: March 2025 (Not so) Little Gem

(Not so) Little Gem

Burry Port Church garden

In a change of tack, Caroline Evans visits St Mary’s, Burry Port

In this series we usually present small rural churches that are often overlooked but are a key part of our historical landscape, having been established in the shades of history and even sometimes constructed on top of pre-Christian special places. In this issue however, we present a Grade II listed Victorian busy town church which truly reflects the social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution with civic aspirations and benevolence.

Construction of St Mary’s started in 1875, based on a plan of 1860, and was opened on 9th December 1877 by Basil Jones, Bishop of St Davids. Built on land overlooking the coastline north-east of the town, it is a prominent landmark and the tower is visible from the Gower peninsula.

The large churchyard site was surrounded by fields but the town has grown up around it. The prime benefactor was George Richards Elkington, co-founder of the Pembrey Copperworks Company. He found that many of his English-speaking Anglican employees had no English place of worship, so he decided to build the church as a gift to the town.

Three landowners from prominent families donated land at the point where the three parcels of land met. George didn’t live to see it constructed but left a generous bequest for its upkeep and tasked his five sons to oversee the building work. The story has it that the five bells in the tower represent those sons.

Burry Port Window

The church is constructed of local rock-faced brown stone with Bath stone dressings with a four-bayed nave with lower chancel, south porch and south-east tower with spire. The nave has two-light aisle windows, three-light clerestory windows between shallow full-height buttresses, and a higher three-light window with head stops, with some glorious Art Nouveau designs.

The reredos was designed by Mowbray to mark the church's fiftieth anniversary in 1927. Some Victorian churches can be somewhat thuggish but this one manages to feel kind and welcoming. If you are down in the area, visiting Pendine, walking the Coastal Path, this church is worth a short detour.

This is a busy church with a packed programme of events and services, but has to be locked up when not in use. It is now equipped with a kitchen, café area, disabled access, and a large car park.

Their Facebook page lists events. For access at other times contact the Priest in Charge, Revd Lorna Bradley, on 07765497930 or lornabradley@cinw.org.uk.

Facebook page : Parish of Burry Port with Pwll,

Church address: St Mary, Burry Port SA16 0SL