Marble sculptures, St Michael's Church, Rosemary Lane, Conwy
Many Roman Catholic churches have a set of depictions of the 12 Stations of the Cross* but usually indoors. Rarely are they displayed outdoors in such a remarkable setting as here.
The scenes of the Easter story are portrayed in 13 reliefs and the Calvary, the free-standing sculpture depicting Christ on the cross.
Most of the reliefs are set into the medieval town walls. The final one is on the gable wall of the church, facing the others. The Calvary is carefully positioned in front of one of the towers of the town walls. The Stations of the Cross and the Calvary were made from Carrara marble in Milan, Italy, especially for this site. A plaque inside the church, with the date 1916, records that Captain Lloyd Goring funded the sculptures.
The Calvary, sculpted from only two pieces of marble, was unveiled by Dr Francis Vaughan, the Bishop of Menevia, in 1932. A crowd of c.5,000 Roman Catholics had travelled to Conwy for the event from across North Wales, Lancashire and Cheshire.
The Calvary completed the “Lourdes Grotto” which was installed in 1931, mostly behind the church. The project was conceived by Giuseppe Rinvolucri, an Italian engineer who lived close by at Bryn (the other side of the Upper Gate). He designed several church in Wales and England, notably the one shaped like an upturned boat in Amlwch.
Most of the grotto was removed when the church hall was built behind the church, where you can still see the grotto’s statue of the Virgin Mary.
The photos of the grotto and calvary were taken by Walter Harris, probably in the 1960s, and are shown here courtesy of Conwy Archive Service.
Roman Catholic services were held inside a medieval tower near Conwy Castle before St Michael’s Church was built in 1915-16. Emma Houlgrave, widow of a Liverpool turpentine distiller, helped to finance the church’s construction (as recorded on a plaque inside). She and her husband Robert were living at Castlebank, Conwy, by 1891. She died, aged 62, in February 1916, eight months before the Bishop of Menevia performed the new church’s dedication ceremony.
In 1943 a funeral service was held at the church for Philip John Walsh, formerly an altar boy at St Michael’s. He was killed in a plane crash while serving with an RAF squadron which patrolled the seas for German submarines. Our page in his memory is here.
*The Stations of the Cross depict different stages in Jesus Christ’s last journey, to the place where he was crucified.
Postcode: LL32 8HY View Location Map
Website of Conwy Archive Service