St Dyfrig – Treforest

Introduction

St Dyfrig – Treforest, in the town of Treforest in the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, is affectionately known as the 'Cathedral of the Valleys'. The church was consecrated on 14 November 1927, having been completed within a year of its foundation stone being laid. Designed by A G Lynham, this is his only known Catholic church.

History

In 1853 a Catholic mission was established at Treforest, and in 1857 a stone Gothic chapel and school was built in Wood Road. Under the direction of Canon McManus, land on Broadway was leased in 1921 for the new church, presbytery and hall. The church was altered in the 1950s, possibly with the addition of the day chapel on the S side. 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's furnishings 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.

Architecture and furnishings

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 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.

The lower and narrower chancel is a polygonal apse with high round-headed windows in each facet. The 6-bay nave has a plaster tunnel vault with broad ribs descending to ground level as wall shafts. The church is 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. The central bay of the narthex 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.

The gable ends of the narthex have oculi. On the south side the three eastern bays have a chapel with roughcast walls and a confessional set slightly back, both under catslide roofs and with narrow small-pane windows. On the south 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 west doors lead into separate vestibules with niches for stoups.

The end bay of the nave has a later screen defining an extension to the vestibule, below the panelled gallery front. The forward altar has a white stone mensa set on red brick uprights with grey banding. The brass domed tabernacle sits on a reconstituted marble plinth with a mosaic symbol of the Eucharist. The original oak pulpit is decorated with foliage and crosses.

The chancel has a stepped marble floor and continuous panelling around the apse. The north vestibule has a stair to the organ and gallery with plain balusters and newels. The arcades have brick piers and plastered round arches, and the tall chancel arch has an impost band continuous with the clerestory sill bands. The confessional on the south side has ribbed doors, and the chapel replaced glazed doors.

The church has various small stained glass windows. The pews are modern replacements and the font is a modern hardwood font. The church is listed at Grade II, designated on 26/02/2001 and amended on 08/06/2023.

Music and liturgy

The parish runs a Children's Liturgy group supported by passionate catechists. The Afternoon Tea group meets monthly to provide fellowship and combat isolation among the over-fifties.

Parish life

The parish encourages university students to join the Ecumenical Chaplaincy. The parish has a Hall Committee, Resilience Committee, and Fundraising Committee. The parish has a Pastorate Leadership Team with St Dyfrig's members.

Tea, coffee and fellowship are offered after Mass. The church has a livestream.