:St Mary's Church, Magor
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{{Infobox church
| name = St Mary's, Magor
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| image = St Marys' Church, Magor.jpg
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| caption = St Mary's, Magor
| denomination = Church in Wales
| diocese = Monmouth
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| years built = late 13th century
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| rector = Rev Daniel Frett
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| location = Magor, Monmouthshire
| country = Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|51.5788|-2.8307|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| website = {{website|magorministryarea.org.uk}}
}}
The Church of St Mary stands in the centre of the village of Magor, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1963.{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=2928|desc=Church of St Mary, Magor with Undy|grade=I|access-date=19 November 2021}} The church is the lead church of the Netherwent Ministry Area, led by Rev Daniel Frett, which administers to a population of around 32,000.{{Cite web |url=https://netherwent.church/ministry-team/ |title=The Ministry Team |publisher=netherwent.church |access-date=24 January 2025}}
History and architecture
It is possible that the church was originally dedicated to Cadwaladr, the last Welsh ruler to call himself King of Britain, who died of the plague in 664 AD.{{cite web |url=https://netherwent.church/magor/ |title=St Cadwaladr's Church, Bishton - Netherwent Ministry Area |website=magorministryarea.org.uk |access-date=3 January 2022}} The church was subsequently dedicated to St Leonard, until the mid-nineteenth century restoration, when it was rededicated to St Mary.
John Newman, in his 2000 Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, describes St Mary's as "one of the most ambitious churches in the county, though the ambitions were not all realised."{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=373}} It is in the Decorated style with a prominent, integral, tower.{{Coflein|num=300046|desc=St Mary's Church, Magor|access-date=12 February 2012}} The porch, of the fourteenth/fifteenth centuries, has buttresses which display "ferocious gargoyles and pinnacles."{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=373}}
The interior contains nineteenth-century, stained glass, including The Good Shepherd by Kempe & Co of 1930–31.{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=373}} The churchyard is the burial place of Welsh composer Mansel Thomas (1909–1986).{{cite DWB |last=Gilmore-James |first=Terence |title=Thomas, Mansel Treharne (1909-1986), Composer, Conductor, BBC Wales Head of Music |id=s8-THOM-TRE-1909 |date=26 April 2012 |access-date=26 June 2013}}
Next to the church stands The Procurator's House, a sixteenth-century house, now ruined, which belonged to the vicarage of Magor.{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=16064|desc=Magor Mansion (also known as the Procurator's House)|grade=II*|access-date=19 November 2021}}
References
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Sources
- {{Cite book
|last=Newman|first=John
|authorlink=John Newman (architectural historian)
|series=The Buildings of Wales
|title=Gwent/Monmouthshire
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&dq=The+Buildings+of+Wales%3A+Gwent%2FMonmouthshire&pg=PA2
|year=2000
|publisher=Penguin
|location=London
|isbn=0-14-071053-1
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magor, St Mary's Church}}