St Mary’s Church, Cardigan
A church was recorded here in the 12th century. The current church is medieval, with many additions and alterations from later centuries. The font dates from the 15th century, as do fragments of stained glass in the east window. The rest of the stained glass from that period was removed by Thomas Johnes of Hafod, Cwm Ystwyth, and lost when his property burned down in 1807.
The church was built by Cardigan’s Benedictine priory, which had been established by monks from Chertsey Abbey, Surrey, when Cardigan belonged to Earl Roger de Clare, from 1158 to 1165. The church functioned as the parish church, where local residents worshipped.
Many pilgrims passed through Cardigan when travelling between St Davids and Mwnt, where boats would take them to Ynys Enlli. Here they would venerate a statue of the Virgin Mary holding a taper (a thin candle). According to legend, the statue had appeared on the banks of the Teifi and the taper never reduced when lit. Initially the statue was taken to what was then the parish church but it miraculously returned to the same riverside spot, where a shrine was set up along with a new church – the present St Mary’s Church.
Donations from the stream of pilgrims brought wealth to the priory. The church’s surviving 15th-century architecture, especially the chancel, is regarded as some of the finest in the region.
The statue was removed and lost during the Reformation in the 1530s. A new statue was made in the 1950s for display at the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Taper in Aberystwyth Road, Cardigan, designated the National Shrine of Wales by the Pope in 1986.
The drawing of the church c.1860 is shown here courtesy of the National Library of Wales.
Postcode: SA43 1LU View Location Map