Afon Tawe Ministry Area
A brief history of St Samlets
The following are extracts from the publication "St Samlets Church – a history of..., first published September 2024 v1.1" published by The Nantarian Press and are reproduced here by kind permission of Llansamlet Historical Society and the author of the publication Mr Clive Bennett. Llansamlet Historical Society have a website which can be found at https://llansamlethistory.com/index.html where you can establish the next event being held by the society and even purchase the full publication.
​
There has been a place of worship on this site since the seventh century. A succession of churches has been built since that time and the resident vicars can be traced back to 1660.
​
The parish was a part of Llangyfelach parish until 1841. It was then the only church for the whole Llansamlet parish until the building of All Saints (Kilvey, 1845), followed by St Paul's (Glais, 1881), St John's (Birchgrove, 1891), St Peter's (Pentrechwyth, 1910) and St Margaret's (Bonymaen, 1916), none of which have graveyards . St Samlet's churchyard was virtually used as the municipal cemetery for the area.
​
The old church (two churches back) had become very run down, was very old and considered to be beyond repair, so was rebuilt in 1827.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​
​
This is the church that is now usually referred to as the old church and is the one within the photo above complete with its tower, and stood just across the drive from this building. There is a stone plaque in the porch here that commemorates the consecration of that church in 1827. Incidentally, the front from the old church is now in St John's Birchgrove.
​
The influx of people into the area, drawn by the numerous industries tha were here, meant that the old church became too small for the growing congregation, and in 1870, during vicar Morgan Rice Morgan's tenure, and who had been here from 1838 until his death in 1874, it was decided to build a new and much larger church.
​
The land for the new church was donated by the 7th Earl of Jersey, on whose Britton Ferry Estate a lot of the parish was, and who had also donated land earlier for the vicarage to be built on, and to enlarge the graveyard.
The architect for the new church was H F Clarke of Britton Ferry and the builders were Thomas, Joshua & Beynon. The vicar at that time was Dr Thomas Walters, vicar from 1874 until his retirement in 1892. The original estimate was £6,000, which was far more than could be afforded and the building work had to be pruned back to save money, so it was decided to leave out the tower and the organ until a later date.
​
The foundation stone was laid by the Countess of Jersey on 2nd May1878 and the new church was consecrated on 6th October 1879. The church is built of natural stone with Bath stone dressings, and the final cost of construction was £4,556 7s 11d, which included fittings such as pews, heating, gas lighting and so forth. Though some donations had been made from local industrialists and the Earl of Jersey, and some raised from events such as bazaars, a lot of the money was raised from small amounts given by members of the congregation, just ordinary workers. It was not until 1890 that the bill was finally paid.
In 1881 the old church was demolished, leaving the old bell tower standing, the materials from the old church were used to enlarge and improve the National School across the road from the church at a cost of £700.
​
The church school in 1870 was supported by local industrialists, who took a penny a week from the wages of each of their workers who had children in the school. Other families whose fathers did not work in those industries paid 2d a week per child; this was increased in 1874 to 3d a week. There were then 300pupils on the roll, though six left because the increase made it too expensive for the families to afford. The school was taken over by Glamorgan County Council after the 1902 Education Act.
​
The school continued to grow and in 1929 moved to the, then new, Llansamlet School a little farther down the road which finally became Lon-Las Welsh primary School, which in 2016 was demolished and a new replacement school built which opened in September 2017.
​
The church organ, the installation of which had been deferred because of the cost, was added in 1895. The tower we have today was erected 1914-1915 at a cost of £2,500 and built by Llansamlet builder David Rosser. The old tower from the old church was taken down shortly after in 1915. The new tower and brass lectern were dedicated on 15th July 1915.
​
The old wooden lectern, which had been presented at the consecration of the new church on 6th October 1879 to the vicar Thomas Walters by his former parishioners and friends at Ystradgynlais for his work there from 1855 to 1874, was given to St Paul;s Glais, where it is today.
​
Prior to 1923 the parish had come under the diocese of St David's, and this is indicated on the chancel arch and in the west window. But in 1923 this was changed to the diocese of Swansea and Brecon, as it is today.
​
The west window was placed in the church by Mrs Mary Jordan in 1924 and depicts St David (south), the Lamb of God (centre) and St Samlet (north). Also donated by Mary Jordan were the electric lights which replaced the gas lights in 1929. The east window was donated from the estate of our own veteran of the Napoleonic War Captain William Jones, and his plaque that is now over the vestry door was originally under the east window where it really belongs, but in 1930 when the oak panelling was placed there it was moved. Also, the estate of Captain Jones donated the land on which St John's church (Birchgrove) was built in 1891.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
The oak panelling behind the altar was given by Margaret Aylwin of Brynawel and dedicated on Easter Sunday 1930. In the wall behind the oak panelling were tablets containing the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, which had been placed there by Dr Walters, who had been made a canon of St David's Cathedral in 1887 and who retired in 1892.
​
The altar and rail were donated by Miss Muriel Aylwin of Brynawel in memory of her mother Margaret and dedicated on 17th June 1931. The pulpit was given by the Jordan family of Parcyderi, Lonlas, in memory of John and Mary Jordan. The organ was also rebuilt and both were consecrated on 25th November 1933.​
​
​
West Window
East window
Altar and Rail
Pulpit
The font was presented to the church by Mr Robert Jones, iron merchant of Drumma Isaf, and his wife in commemoration of their daughter Minnie Florence's baptism on 14th August 1879, the first baptism to be administered in the church.
When the church was built it had a Full Immersion Baptistery. Over time this became unused and was concreted over when the hall was added in 1995. During 2023, this Baptistery has been partially opened up, and is now a feature in the hall floor.
The above are, as mentioned, only a brief history of St Samlets from the publication. The full publication contains many more items that maybe of interest. There are section within the publication outlining interesting points about the interior, and Wartime Commemorations in the Churchyard. Full details can be found at the Publications page on Llansamlet Historical Society's website (https://llansamlethistory.com/article02.html) where you can purchase a copy of the softback A4 publication which are available at talks of Llansamlet Historical Society. Check out their website for the latest planned talk dates or email the society at llansamlethistory@gmail.com or email their secretary Ray Savage savage.ray@btinternet.com
​
Our thanks again, go to all at Llansamlet Historical Society especially the author Mr Clive Bennett, for agreeing to extracts from their publication "St Samlet Church - a history of..." to be presented here.
​