The Diocese of Menevia has announced that a disused church on the outskirts of Aberystwyth is to be renovated, five years after the controversial closure of St Winefride’s (pictured) in the town centre on health and safety grounds. Since then parishioners have had to attend Mass in a parish hall.
At the time of its closure, the diocese indicated it wanted to demolish St Winefride’s, which dates back to 1874, and sell the land for residential development. It said that a survey indicated it would cost more than £2.5 million to renovate. But a group was formed to lobby for St Winefride’s to be saved, with campaigners disputing the diocese’s figure, saying a survey they commissioned put the cost at £625,000.
Now the Bishop of Menevia, Tom Burns, said that “generous donations” had made it possible for the disused Welsh Martyrs church two miles away to be restored and it will reopen next summer.
“I have been acutely aware of the difficulties and pain of the past few years,” he said. “Aberystwyth has been uppermost in my thoughts and prayers … at long last, we have a way forward that is both realistic and achievable.”
Bishop Burns urged the parish community to be renewed and said: “We have the opportunity to move forward in an atmosphere of faith and hope for the future.”
Speaking to The Tablet, a spokesman for the diocese added: “In terms of St Winefride’s nothing has been decided. It’s a difficult situation. What’s going to happen to it remains to be seen. It’s up to the bishop.”
The campaign group, SoS – Save Our St Winefride’s – argued that the church was “highly significant” as a centre of Welsh Catholicism, in that the Welsh translation of the order of the Mass and the first collection of Welsh hymns originated there.
Several campaigners have “voted with their feet” and now worship in the neighbouring diocese of Wrexham.
Dr James January-McCann, the Welsh Government’s place names officer, told The Tablet that he and his wife were the last couple to be married at St Winefride’s and returned from honeymoon to find it closed. “We wanted our son to be baptised there and then wanted him to be able to attend a church, so we no longer go to Mass in Aberystwyth. The situation with St Winefride’s is terribly sad.”
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