St Paul's Church

Throughout the 19th century the population of Blaenavon continued to rise, with the population standing at over 11,000 during the early 1890s. A new church was needed to cater for the spiritual needs of Anglicans living in the east of the town, so a piece of land was donated to the parish by the Blaenavon Company and Reginald Nevill, the second Marquess of Abergavenny, for the building of a new place of worship.

John Burgoyne, a builder from nearby New Inn, was contracted in 1892 to build the church for the sum of £1,275. He was a very experienced builder and had built much of nearby Charles Street during the 1880s. The foundation stone was laid on the 21st April 1893 and work commenced at Easter. Local dressed stone, including some of the old stones from the ruin of Capel Newydd, which had closed in 1861, was used to construct the new church.

The building work was completed in autumn 1893 and the attractive church, which was dedicated to Saint Paul, was opened and consecrated by the Bishop of Llandaff on the 10th October 1893.

Notable features, which can be viewed at the church today, include a number of artefacts from Capel Newydd, Blaenavon’s earliest known place of Christian worship. The door key to the old church can viewed, as well as a Welsh Bible, used in services when Welsh was the dominant language in the area. The stone altar and reredos (screen) were also transferred from Capel Newydd and still survive.

Saint Paul’s Church may be opened on request.

Church Contact Details

The Reverend Dr. Jason S. Bray
The Vicarage
Llanover Road
Blaenavon
Torfaen
NP4 9HR
Tel: 01495 790292