St Martins Church, Caerphilly

Starting today, my next weeks blips will be about the churches of the Caerphilly area. I hope you will all like them, as I love old buildings myself and am drawn to such places.

St Martin’s church has changed over time, as all churches do, and especially as congregations wax and wane.

The first phase of the present church was built in 1878-79. It was erected alongside the old “Capel Martin”, dated 1822, which was demolished in 1882 – the site can still be seen (just) in the churchyard to the west of the present church

In 1905, to accommodate the growing population of Caerphilly, the church was extended by two bays to the west (now the rear nave). The tower was added in 1910 - erected in Commemoration of the visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to the town on July 13th, 1907. The South Aisle was added in 1938, to mark the occasion of the 50th Jubilee of St Martin’s Church in 1929.

The Parish was given land in Park Lane in December 1867 for the purposes of building a church school – now known as the Parish Hall. This hall has had a somewhat colourful history; first as a National School; then retained by the parish after a battle through the courts from 1905 to 1913, when the local authority wished to make it a Council School; extended in 1920 to provide more space for the Sunday School; and used every since then by the church and by a number of local organizations providing wider aspects of education and training for young people.

The final chapter of the history of this hall is now being played out – it has been sold to Caerphilly County Borough for redevelopment purposes, and we are allowed to retain it for a while until they are ready to progress.

As time has gone on, congregations in St Martin’s have fallen, as they have done all across the whole of Christendom. Whereas we once needed to accommodate 400 people at major festivals, now we only need to find space for 160.

When we finally lose the hall – when it is claimed back by the council - we will have nowhere to house our vital extended mission to the community. This includes Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Zumba Dancing, Aikido, Kick Boxing, Tai Kwando, Dancing Classes, Youth Club, Ladies Fellowship, Mother’s Union, Street Pastors and, of course, our own Parish Social Events. So we now have to set up a project to replace this community space – using the back of the church – the extension of 1905.