![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/St-Marys-church.jpg?resize=600%2C68\")
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THE CHURCH TOWER AT WENVOE<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n In 1688 King James II had fled the country. While in exile he was still king and the succession was confused because his son Charles (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was in France. Meanwhile, William of Orange had been invited to the throne of England with Mary, the eldest daughter of James to \u201c Protect the Protestant Religion and the Glorious Revolution and the liberties of the people\u201d. They were crowned in 1689 as William III and Mary II. Mary died in 1694, and William died in 1702 upon which Queen Anne succeeded. How much these events affected life in Wenvoe is a matter of supposition. Were these momentous events in the national life announced from the steps of the Church Cross in the churchyard or did the fact that the prayers in church for the Royal Family bring home the changes in national life?<\/p>\n The earlier generations of the Thomas family at Wenvoe Castle, had supported Oliver Cromwell\u2019s Commonwealth, at the end of the 17th century. The 1st baronet Sir John Thomas had strong royalist feelings having been advanced to the dignity of a Baronet, by William and Mary on 24th December 1694. The family held the advowson* of the living of The church rate was not a popular means of taxation, and non-payment saw the parishioner hauled up before the Justices of the Peace. In later years with the growth of Non-conformity, this payment to the established church was a source of discontent as the church received payment from the Government of the day towards their running costs, while the non-conformists had to pay their own way in building their meeting houses and chapels.<\/p>\n At the end of the 17th century, Wenvoe Church was in need of repair. The church tower on the north side of the church must have been in a dilapidated condition, and the radical decision to move and rebuild at the west end was taken. At this time, the church building consisted of a nave and chancel, separated within by a low archway. The roof was much lower than to-day\u2019s roof and burials were taking place within the church itself, for the local gentry and other persons of note. The Rector, with the encouragement of the Thomas family and his churchwardens, must have used the Church Rate to fund the demolition and re-building of the tower, and perhaps with some financial support from the Castle.<\/p>\n The poor and dangerous state of the tower could be attributed to the after effects of the Battle of St Fagans in 1648. When the village war memorial was being built in the 1920s a cannon ball was found, indicating that the effects of the war had spread far and wide in the villages surrounding St Fagans. Church towers were often places where the local muskets, rifles and pikes etc. were stored for use by the local militia, when called upon in defence of the realm, and were places of defence and so targets to be attacked during the fighting.<\/p>\n During the construction phase, the church building must have been out of use for some time, and from the parish registers, the following has been extracted over three years 1698, 1699 and 1700.<\/p>\n In 1698 there were 8 Baptisms between June to Dec.<\/p>\n In 1699 there were 6 Baptisms between May and Jan.<\/p>\n In 1700 there were 11 Baptisms between June and March<\/p>\n In 1698 there was 1 marriage in Sept.<\/p>\n In 1699 there were 3 marriages between Dec. and Feb..<\/p>\n During this time the year ran from on March 25th to\u00a0March 24th.<\/p>\n Baptisms and Marriage services would have needed the use of the church to perform these, but there are lengthy gaps in time between these events.<\/p>\n The only firm evidence we have is the plaque on the west face of the tower recording the rebuilding. This plaque is a replacement for the original, and was placed there, gratis, in 1935, by Mr Sid Llewellyn. The original plaque sets out the account of removal and rebuilding<\/p>\n \u201cTHE TOWER OF THIS CHURCH WAS REMOVED FROM THE FARTHEST PART OF THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BODY OF THE CHURCH TO THE EAST AND WAS REBUILT IN THIS PLACE IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1699. Wil Morgan, Wil Wade Churchwardens.<\/p>\n However, in 1890 Mr Frank Bright wrote an account in a publication called St Peter\u2019s Chair (a copy of which is in the G.R.O. in Cardiff) of a visit he made\u00a0to Wenvoe Church and recorded that there was a Latin inscription as follows, which was not inscribed on the replacement tablet. \u201cProcol O Procol este Profani\u201d<\/strong><\/em> a translation is \u201cKeep away, O Keep away you profane ones\u201d.<\/p>\n Why this was not included could be down to the fact that the lettering was by this time deeply eroded and could not be read.<\/p>\n The purpose of writing this account marks the present on-going work to repoint all four faces of the tower due to frost damage loosening the mortar infill around the masonry. Not only is this a danger to the general public, but the work will restore the tower, making it fit for purpose for future generations.<\/p>\n Parry Edwards, May 2021<\/p>\n (* Advowson or patronage is the right in English law of a patron to present to the diocesan bishop a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE CHURCH TOWER AT WENVOE In 1699, the church tower was moved from the north side of the church to its pre-sent position at the west end of the church. In the absence of any documentary evidence for this re-building of the church tower in the late 17th century, we have to look at the national and local situation that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334,127,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2A5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9867,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9867","url_meta":{"origin":9925,"position":0},"title":"Repairs And Redecoration Taking Place","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"News for July St. Mary\u2019s Church remains closed while the repairs and redecoration is taking place, and all services have been transferred to the Church Hall, on Sunday and for the midweek service on Wednesday. The work which is being done to a very high standard, is taking longer than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "St Mary's Parish Church News"","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10250,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10250","url_meta":{"origin":9925,"position":1},"title":"Sponsor A Stone","author":"Alan Williams","date":"17th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"ST MARY\u2019S CHURCH TOWER APPEAL SPONSOR A STONE You may be aware that urgent, extensive restoration work is needed to restore the tower and porch of St Mary\u2019s church to a safe and structurally sound condition. We are so lucky to have this beautiful, Grade ll* listed building in Wenvoe.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "St Mary's Parish Church News"","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11222,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11222","url_meta":{"origin":9925,"position":2},"title":"News Update for February","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th March 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Inaugural Service of the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg took place on the afternoon of Sunday 6th February, with Bishop June presiding at St. Peter\u2019s church in Dinas Powis, with the congregation made up from representatives of the nine churches present. The MA Lay Chair, Mr Howard Rees, was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "St Mary's Parish Church News"","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9604,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9604","url_meta":{"origin":9925,"position":3},"title":"Union Flag At Half Mast","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"News for May The flying of the Union Flag at half mast, on the church tower, was a signal that we were joining in with the country, on hearing the sad news of the death of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. In church, prayers were offered for HM the Queen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "St Mary's Parish Church News"","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10098,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10098","url_meta":{"origin":9925,"position":4},"title":"St Mary’s Tower Appeal","author":"Alan Williams","date":"23rd August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "General News"","block_context":{"text":"General News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=276"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/donate1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/donate1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/donate1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/donate1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10294,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10294","url_meta":{"origin":9925,"position":5},"title":"September News Update","author":"Alan Williams","date":"19th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"September News Update It was with great sadness the news that the Rev. Jonathon Ormrod, our Priest in Charge, has decided to leave the parishes of Wenvoe with St. Lythan\u2019s and Sully to take up a similar position at St. Martin\u2019s church in Worle near Weston super Mare. During his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "St Mary's Parish Church News"","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9925"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9925"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9931,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9925\/revisions\/9931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Church-Tower.jpg?resize=215%2C300\")
In 1699, the church tower was moved from the north side of the church to its pre-sent position at the west end of the church. In the absence of any documentary evidence for this re-building of the church tower in the late 17th century, we have to look at the national and local situation that the village of Wenvoe found itself in.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/willmary.jpg?resize=250%2C248\")
Wenvoe Church and made the appointments of a priest to the church. At the time we are concerned with, the Rector of Wenvoe was Philip Hawkins who had been appointed in 1681 on the death of Samuel Hughes. The Rector and two churchwardens appointed at the vestry meeting, held each year, looked after the fabric of the buildings by use of the Church Rate. This was money raised from every house and portion of land within the parish boundary, for keeping the fabric of the church in good order. The amount they wished to raise was decided by them and the people meeting together each year.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Church-plaque.jpg?resize=300%2C255\")
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