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St Joseph's R.C. Church, Hay-on-Wye

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Coordinates: 52°04′29″N 3°07′37″W / 52.074774°N 3.127053°W / 52.074774; -3.127053
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St Joseph's Church
Front of the church seen from Belmont Rd
Map
52°04′29″N 3°07′37″W / 52.074774°N 3.127053°W / 52.074774; -3.127053
OS grid referenceSO2285242423
LocationThe Presbytery, 4 Belmont Road, Hay-on-Wye, Powys HR3 5DA
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationRoman Catholic
Previous denominationCalvinistic Methodist
Websitehttps://www.stmichaelsrcbrecon.org.uk/st-joseph/
History
StatusParish church
Founded1968
DedicationSaint Joseph
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationConservation area
Architect(s)F.R. Bates, Son & Price of Newport
StyleGothic architecture
Administration
ProvinceCardiff
ArchdioceseCardiff-Menevia
DeaneryLlandrindod Wells Deanery[1]
ParishSt Joseph's
Clergy
Priest(s)Fr. Jimmy Sebastian MCBS

St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the town of Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales. Hay-on-Wye is known as the "town of books". St. Joseph's parish is in the Llandrindod Wells Deanery of the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia.[2][3]

St Joseph's is served out of St. Michael's Roman Catholic church in Brecon[4].

The Parish Priest is Fr Jimmy Sebastian Pulickakunnel MCBS. Fr Jimmy is a member of the religious order of the Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament.[4]

Canon Clyde Johnson, a retired Priest, also helps in the parish.[5]

Parish

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There are two regular Masses held in the church, one on Sunday morning at 9:00am and the other at 10:00am Thursday morning. The weekly newsletter contains details about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Exposition, Holy day Masses etc.[6]

The parishioners play an active part in the life of the parish community. Parish Groups include a Parish Advisory Council and other groups. The church noticeboard includes rotas for writing bidding prayers, church cleaning, flower arranging etc. The 'Holy Joes' are an ecumenical choir that lead the music most Sundays and on special occasions in the local area.[7] They rehearse on a Tuesday and always welcome new recruits.

History

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In 1828, a Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist (Presbyterian Church of Wales) chapel was built in Belmont Rd. The congregation were known as the ‘Jumpers’ due to their energetic engagement in services, and enthusiastic hymn singing.[8] They are the precursors to the 'Holy Joes'.

In 1872, a stone-built Calvinistic Methodist chapel was rebuilt on the same site at a cost of £700 in the Gothic style of the gable entry type.[9][10][11]

Early in the 20th century visiting secular Priests from Brecon[12] and the Benedictines from Belmont Abbey celebrated Roman Catholic Mass in the home of Mr Grant, Castle Street in Hay-on-Wye.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

In 1926, Francis Vaughan the Bishop of Menevia gave consent for Roman Catholic Mass to be celebrated in the hired assembly room over the Cheese Market. Anecdotally, current parishioners recall that at the time it had a leaking roof, and it was challenge getting coffins up and down the stairwell.[19][20]

In the 1950’s, parishioners raised money to buy a house which served as a Presbytery. In 1960, Fr. Hugh Healey was appointed resident Priest and lived in the Old Presbytery.[21] Anecdotal evidence by current parishioners reveal that Mass was celebrated by Fr. Hugh Healey in Castle Street, and occasionally at Capel-y-Ffin, near Llanthony Priory. Roman Catholic Mass was first celebrated at Capel-y-Ffin in 1913. The house was eventually sold to a lay person, a Roman Catholic, and Mass was sometimes celebrated in the Capel-y-Ffin chapel up to the 1960's.[22] Capel-y-Ffin is currently being served from the Anglo-Catholic (Church in Wales) pre-conquest church of St. Eigon, Llanigon, Wales.

In 1968, rather than build a new church, the Methodist chapel was purchased and adapted for Roman Catholic use by the firm of architects F.R. Bates, Son & Price of Newport. The firm specialised in modernising Catholic churches across South Wales. The refurbished building was dedicated to St. Joseph. An adjacent house was acquired, and became the current presbytery. Current parishioners remember that Ian Paisley and other outsiders came to Hay to protest about the proposed new use of the building![23]

Interior

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Caitriona Cartwright carved the Stations of the Cross using local stone and inspired by the letter cutting of 18th century headstones.[24] The abstract coloured window glazing is thought to be the work of the Architects F.R. Bates, Son & Price of Newport. The curved roof is one of the few remaining architectural features following the refurbishment. The right hand side of the front has a small tower containing the pointed main entrance door, with a bell stage above which tapers to a square cap with a bold corbel table. The original building may have intended to include a spire, or was built with a spire which has been lost.

Exterior

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The church building is within the Hay Conservation area, but is not grade II listed.[25][26] Due to its heritage, the church is not orientated traditionally i.e. towards the east. The alter faces towards the west and the entrance towards the east. The architecture is based on a thirteenth century Gothic style. The pitched roof is covered in Welsh slate, and local stone was used for the front wall of rock-face stone (looking from Belmont Rd). The gabled front has a central pointed window with three simply moulded lights with three hexagons in the tracery. To its left is a single pointed window with a straight head to the main light and a hexagon in the tracery. The wall on this side terminates with a stepped buttress carried up into a pinnacle. The right hand side at the front has a small tower containing the pointed main entrance door, with a bell stage above which tapers to a square cap with a bold corbel table. It looks like a spire was intended to be built, or the spire was built and has been lost.[27]

Past Parish Priests

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Fr Hugh Healey RIP.[21]

Fr Murray RIP.

Fr Ray Bunting.

Fr Tim Maloney RIP.[23][28]

Fr Peter Flanagan SCJ  RIP (died 2008).[29]    

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  • Fr Hugh Healy (RIP) with Bishop Petit (1973 RIP)
    Fr Hugh Healy (RIP) with Bishop Petit (1973 RIP)
  • Fr Tim Maloney (RIP)
    Fr Tim Maloney (RIP)
  • Fr Jimmy Sebastian Pulickakunnel MCBS
    Fr Jimmy Sebastian Pulickakunnel MCBS

References

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  1. ^ [1] from Diocese of Menevia, retrieved 27 September 2024
  2. ^ "Diocese of Menevia". 2024-09-13. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  3. ^ "Catholic Province of Cardiff, Menevia, Wrexham & Herefordshire Directory and Year Book 2024 by CathCom - Issuu". issuu.com. 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  4. ^ a b "St. Michael's Catholic Church, Brecon – Eglwys Gatholig Sant Michangel, Aberhonddu". Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  5. ^ "Canon Clyde Johnson - a resident's biography | Abbeyfield Brecon Society Blog". Abbeyfield. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  6. ^ "Newsletter – St. Michael's Catholic Church, Brecon". Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  7. ^ "Brecon and Radnor Reporter - Service remembers life of vicar killed in Great War". Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  8. ^ "jumpers". Early Tourists in Wales. 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  9. ^ "St Joseph's Church, Belmont Road, Hay-on-Wye, Breconshire". Peoples Collection Wales. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  10. ^ "English – Coflein". coflein.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  11. ^ "THE CHAPELS HERITAGE SOCIETY -Glasbury & Hay on Wye" (PDF). Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  13. ^ "Facebook - Castle St in the 1940's". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  14. ^ "Facebook - Castle St, 1920's". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  15. ^ Stuff, Good. "H.R.Grant including former Flannel mill to rear, Hay-on-Wye, Powys". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  16. ^ "Facebook - 1953 Photograph". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  17. ^ "Facebook - St Michael's Catholic Church Brecon". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  18. ^ "Facebook - Grants shop in Castle St". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  19. ^ "The Cheese Market, Hay-on-Wye - History Points". historypoints.org. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  20. ^ "Listed Buildings - Full Report - HeritageBill Cadw Assets - Reports". cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  21. ^ a b The Irish Digest. Irish Digest. 1962. p. 24.
  22. ^ Attwater, Donald (1935). "The Catholic Church in modern Wales a record of the past century 1892-1977" (PDF). p. 187.
  23. ^ a b Taaffe, Frank (2011-05-05). "Athy Eye On The Past: Hay on Wye / Sean MacFheorais". Athy Eye On The Past. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  24. ^ "Feature in Landlove Magazine November 2017 | About". Caitriona Cartwright. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  25. ^ "Conservation Areas | Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority". Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  26. ^ "CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL" (PDF). September 2016.
  27. ^ "Hay-on-Wye - St Joseph". Taking Stock. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  28. ^ "Presteigne". Hereford Times. 2002-01-17. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  29. ^ "The Journal of the Association for Latin Liturgy" (PDF). 2014.
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