The name or dedication of the church.
This identifies the church type. Most churches are parish churches which means they serve a specific parish or area. Other types such as chapel, daughter and mission are mostly historic designations as many are now also parish churches. Please note that former churches are no longer used for worhsip and may be in private ownership.
A unique identification number given to every church.
The name of the diocese in which the church is located.
The name of the archdeaconry in which the church is located.
This is the legal name of the parish as given by the Church Commissioners.
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There are 3 levels of listing: Grade I, II* & II. The majority of buildings which are of special interest are Grade II. A much smaller number of particularly important buildings are listed as Grade II*. Buildings of exceptional interest (approx 2% of the total number of listed buildings) are Grade I.
Ancient monuments and archaeological remains of national importance are protected by law. Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service is responsible for compiling a schedule (list) of these ancient monuments, some of which can be found in churches and churchyards. Examples can include churchyard crosses and the archaeological remains of previous churches or buildings on the site.
There are three National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacons. These protect 20 percent of the land in Wales, including precious landscapes, habitats, villages and heritage sites.
There are over 500 conservation areas in Wales. They are designated by local planning authorities for their special architectural and historic interest.
The Buildings at Risk register is managed by Cadw (the Welsh Government’s historic environment service) in order to identify the number and type of listed buildings at risk in Wales.
It is often extremely difficult to determine a precise date of construction for a church as many have been extensively altered over time. Church Heritage Cymru therefore shows a date range within which a church is believed to have been constructed. The dates are as follows: Early Medieval (pre 1066), Medieval (post 1066 to 1540), Post Medieval (1540 to 1837), Victorian/Pre WWI (1837 to 1914) and Modern (post 1914).
The name/dedication of the church and its location.
A brief description of the image
The date the image was created.
Details of any copyright are displayed here.
The name of the person who uploaded the image.
This is a very brief summary of the church's main features. More detailed nformation can be found in the other fields and pages (tabs) in this database.
Useful information is displayed here for people wishing to visit the church. This may include things like opening hours, catering & toilet facilities, parking, etc.
If the church has its own website the details will be displayed here.
Any further sources of information for the church will be listed here (eg. links to other historic databases).
This is the Ordnance Survey (OS) reference for the location of the church. Some locations will be approximate as this data is continuously being refined and updated.
This is the name of the Local Authoirity within which the church is located.
This describes how the church relates to its immediate and wider environment, sometimes called its setting. It describes how the church contributes to its landscape or townscape and how these things collectively contribute to the character of the area.
Welshpool is 33 km west of Shrewsbury in the Severn Valley, the Newtown 23 km south west and up stream while Oswestry is 24km to the north. The town has hills to the northwest and northeast and Powys castle, the home of Robert Clive, is accessible from the town. The church is on sloping ground to the north of the town centre – Welshpool Cross.
Route Planner Directions, traffic and maps AA
This is a description of the ground plan of the church.
If known, the dimensions (measurements) of the church ground plan will be displayed here.
If the footrprint (area) of the church is known, it will be displayed here.
A description of the history and archaeology of the church and its site.
Gruffydd of Powys is believed to have founded a church here in 1253, Gruffydd being the patron of the town and he who granted the town its charters and gave it its essentially Medieval layout. The town was devasted by Owain Glyndŵr in 1401coming south from Oswestry after his initial campaign against Ruthin. Wool was then the mainstay of the town’s economy making it then, the largest town in Wales. The town had been recorded in the Norwich Taxation of 1254 when the chapelry of St Llewelyn was linked to Llandrinio while a new church was part of the planned Welshpool settlement of the middle of the C13.
This church has been subject to many modifications, in the C14 a new chancel was added to the nave on an asymmetric alignment. A guild chapel (Trinity Chapel) exited within the south aisle in the C16 and 1500 has been quoted as the time the tower was raised. Sadly, the church and much of the town were damaged by a blaze in 1665. Despite this, a gallery probably dating from 1588 was still in situ in 1737 when it was said that a great number of the common people sat in it and spat at the people below! A vault was created beneath the chancel in 1772 for the Earl of Powys (Powys Castle). Between 1774 and 1777 the nave and aisles were rebuilt, a schoolroom was accommodated in the upper part of the porch, round headed windows and plastered ceilings were introduced, a new gallery was built at the east end of the nave, the tower was repaired and a new door constructed all for a cost of £1500.
Further works took place in the C19 particularly by Thomas Billing in 1856. Then the chancel arch was erected and a pulpit window inserted, the original east window was moved to the northside of the building and a larger east window created, stone flags replaced slate ones, brass altar rails replaced wooden ones and hot water heating was installed.
Between 1870 and 71 G E Street engaged in further restoration. He placed a pitch pine roof on the nave, the west gallery was removed, a reredos created and the chancel fitted out. This work was enhanced in the C20with the insertion of stained glass in 1919, the removal of the north gallery in 1926 and the south aisle gallery in 1946. Following a fire in1924 the roof was repaired and re-slated in 1937. There has been further post war restoration between 1957 and 1967 particularly to stabilise the tower.
References
Cadw Listings Notice
Buildings of Wales – Powys 2013
CPAT Montgomeryshire Churches Survey
Roger L Brown, The Church of St Mary of the Salutation Welshpool (Sayce Papers no 4, 1998)
A description of the exterior of the church and the main features of the churchyard.
The church has a west tower, a nave incorporating two aisles, a south porch, a chancel and a gabled organ chamber. It was constructed mostly of small to medium sized blocks of brown, orange and grey shale mixed with red sandstones with dressing of red sandstone. Higher up the wall are blocks of greenish grey dolerite probably from the Criggion quarries. The roof is slated with black ceramic ridge tiles and there is a cross finial to the chancel. The tower is large, square with three stages with a low pyramidal slate roof, not visible behind the battlements, with a flag pole and weather vane in the south west corner.
Information about any noteable architects, artists, people, or events associated with the church.
Information about any important features and building fabric.
If known, a list of the church's major building material/s will be displayed here.
Any renewable energy systems the church is using will be listed here.
This section gives a general description of the interior of the church. Further details of any important internal fixtures and fittings will be listed below.
The tower is entered from the west end of the nave, it has a tiled floor and a dog-leg staircase behind a panel façade leading to the ringing chamber. The nave has a floor of C19 encaustic tiles with plastered and painted walls with only the dressed stone of the chancel arch and the arcading exposed. The roof is of eight bays formed by nine embattled tie-beams, king and queen post trusses with cusped struts with only the one in the east end lacking ornate detail. Coving decorated with painted crosses runs along both sides at wall-plate level. Above the arch in the west wall is a painted C17 Royal Coat of Arms. Four steps lead from the nave under the chancel arch into the chancel which is offset to the north. Four further steps lead to the sanctuary. Again, the floors are of encaustic tiles. The roof is ceiled with four bays of wood panelling formed by five tie-beams which with the three main purlins and moulded ribs form square panels (128min total) with embossed and coloured shields. Tradition has it that it came from Strata Marcella Abbey a few miles to the north. (This is unlikely.)
The stone font is on octagonal shafts and was renewed in Mansfield Woodhouse. The alabaster and Caen stone Reredos was executed by T Earp while the Triptych is Flemish of the early C16 with later additions. There are fine bass altar rails and lectern and fine chandeliers given in 1776
The stained-glass: ’Scenes from the life of the Virgin’, Scenes from the lives of St John, St Peter & St Paul’ c 1871, ‘The First Easter day’ 1900, ‘Scenes from the life of Christ’ in dazzling colours by William Eailes 1862, and ‘Passion scenes’ Celtic Studios 1972. The Powis family, acting as tithe tenants to Christ Church Oxford, and Dr Pusey, who later took over the tithes, gave the east window as an early example of William Wailes of Newcastle's work. The organ by father Willis of 1880 is regarded as one of the five most important organs in north Wales
There are 8 bells, 6 by Thomas II Mears of 1824, one by John Taylor & Co of 1966 and one by Robert Stainbank of 1868.
Stained Glass in Wales
A National Bell Register - George Dawson's Website - Homestead
Information about the church's important internal fixtures and fittings.
Information about the church's important moveable items and artworks.
A description of the ecology of the churchyard.
Information about the presence of bats in the church building or churchyard.
Records whether the church has been consecrated.
Records whether there have been burials in the churchyard.
Records whether the churchyard is still being used for burials.
Records whether there are any war graves in the churchyard.
Any important churchyard structures will be listed here.
Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship of the church to its surrounding area and helps place it within its wider landscape context.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the significance of the historic building fabric of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the historic significance of the interior of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship between the church and its community.