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NEWTON CHURCH

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THE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.

The present fabric of the Church at Newton is essentially a product of the 15th century, before the influence of the Renaissance was realized in Glamorgan. Of the same period are the structural features of the churches at Laleston and Tythegstone, while, at Pyle, in 1485, was built the Parish Church in lieu of that of St. James in the ancient city of Kenfig which was being overwhelmed by sand. There is therefore a suggestion of a general movement directed to provide edifices to meet some new conditions under which the people lived; those of the 12th century, when the original church was founded and built by Normans, had prevailed since Romano-British days ; even sacred buildings were encumbered with fortifications, and a signal from a baron was sufficient to bring together an army of retainers to meet the needs of the king or to settle some local affair. But the Wars of the Roses, a vendetta between two feudal families, impoverished the wealth and strength of the mighty baronage, and thereby eliminated the forces which had made very difficult the establish ment of a national government. Also industrial progress and development of trade, during the 15th century, brought prosperity to the English nation, and there was created a powerful middle class with interests antagonistic to those of the feudal barons, and who, by the discreet use of capital, were able to occupy positions that enabled them to become influential in the political life of the country. Furthermore, the peasants had won a certain degree of freedom, while the masses were aware of a general awakening in the fields of knowledge and literature. Religious sanctions, previously so effectively wielded by the priesthood, had lost their terrors, the church was losing its power of disciplining the people, and heresy was on the increase.

A New Era dawned in 1485, in which year Bosworth was fought, the English King, Richard III, slain, by right of conquest, Henry Tewdwr, of the line of Welsh princes, ascended the throne of England as Henry VII. Under the influence of the Tudor monarchs, the spirit of the Middle Ages faded away. The landed gentry of the new type, who had been granted the confiscated lands of the old aristocracy, and the employers, whose number and wealth had vastly increased, welcomed a despotic king as the one power who could prevent the recurrence of the horrors of war; an autocratic ruler might allay the fears of the wealthy classes who sought the retention, with hopes of extension, of their privileges, when the dangers of a social revolt were increasing. Under the rule of Henry VII, the National State, as opposed to feudal indiscipline, was established, and the nation was recalled to peace. The safety of the state became the prerogative of the Royal Government; castles became homes, and churches needed to be places of worship only.

Trevelyan says that "Henry VII was a Welshman, educated in Wales. and retaining all his life a love of Welsh poetry and traditions " He was fond of books and was a patron of art. Church buildings consisted of thick walls with arrow-proof slits, and a defensive tower, all of which were subversive of the ideals of the King. It is highly probable that he adopted a policy of encouraging structural alterations generally. Prior to 1485, the Gothic craftsman had to rely upon the wealth and taste of noblemen and ecclesiastics who were inspired by military necessity. But, now, there came a desire for comfort which produced the expert in the art of decoration and novelty in design. Wealthy city merchants and country gentlemen, to raise their social status, would elect to improve their surroundings, and were encouraged to contribute to the cost of making the churches more attractive. Windows were enlarged, but the greater light emphasized the barrenness of the buildings which had been designed to resist sieges.

The Lordship of Glamorgan, passing into the hands of Henry VII in 1485, was, in the same year, granted by the King to his uncle, Jasper Tudor, who died in 1495. Of particular interest is the fact that, of the land comprising the Parish of Newton Nottage, Jasper owned a part that formed the nucleus of what today, is known as the Pembroke Manor. By such rights of ownership, he "presented a Person into the Parsonage by Turn with the other Lords of the parish." During this period (1485-1495), Newton Church was re-built and among the characteristic features added, the following are suggested as noteworthy. the sculptured head of John the Baptist, the Lamb and Flag (possibly the work of an inspired mason) in the west face of the tower, and the pulpit which is the height of sublimity, though, may be, the master-craftsman did not add the final touches to the leaves and tendrils on the west side, for these appear to be of inferior workmanship compared with those on the east side.

Newton Church, under Royal Patronage, and with Syr Dafydd ap William as the Incumbent, must surely have been an architectural gem among the Parish Churches of those times.

During the two centuries succeeded the Reformation, when scant attention was given to ecclesiastical structure, the south porch of Newton Church was converted into a vestry, in which parochial business was transacted. The Reverend Robert Knight, the Rector, must have come under the influence of the new awakening of interest in Gothic art, for, in 1826-27, he undertook the work of re-conditioning the Church after a long period of neglect. The porch was restored to its original purpose , the west doorway walled up and a new organ installed behind it. The two south windows in the nave - (two-light windows) -were widened, and three-light widows were put in. A detailed examination of the masonry in the illustration of the memorial window shows the jamb on the right-hand side to be the work of experts of the 15th century, whale that on the left-hand, by village masons of the early 19th century, shows inferior workmanship. The pulpit, irreparably damaged, received extra light from the insertion of a window nearby. A suggestion that the east window was widened, might be considered, while new mullions were inserted into the South widow of the chancel.

A doorway, cut through the north wall between the two stairways, provided an entrance into a new vestry built behind the pulpit, while a gallery, erected at the western end of the nave, increased the accommodation needed on account of the revival of interest in religion; for this same reason was the pulpit reduced in length and raised to allow for a few extra seats. The walls and chancel roof received a covering of plaster, lined in imitation masonry, coloured and decorated; a remnant has been left on the base of the altar. A dormer window (or was it a bell turret ?) in the nave roof east of the south porch was removed, this, apparently, providing light for the occupants of the rood loft during service, but its purpose was later rendered void as the rood loft had disappeared and sufficient illumination had been provided by new and enlarged windows.

Alterations on a considerable scale were also conducted by the Rev. William Jones. A new organ chamber in 1885 received the organ from the base of the tower, thus making the west door available for the use of the worshippers. An entrance from the organ chamber to the vestry, by lowering the floor of the latter, made the doorway through the north wall unnecessary. In this year also, the re-opening of the north chancel window, removal of the walling that concealed the piscina in the chancel, and of that which blocked the two squints and door to the rood loft, restored to view much that was of particular interest in the ancient church. The chancel ceilings with its timbers exposed by the removal of the plaster covering, added dignity to the edifice, while the walls received a new coating of plaster without the imitation masonry marks.

Inducted in the year 1903. the Rev. T. Holmes Morgan, during his first year of office, paid attention to the tower on the urgent advice of the diocesan architect, Mr. Halliday; the repairing of the parapets, the grouting and the painting of the walls, the re-opening of the blocked doorway on the east face, as well as of the filled slit-windows with wide splays - reminiscent of the earliest church - on the north and south, together with a new roof, restored to the tower-the relic of turbulent times - a reminder of its strength, without destroying the signs of its antiquity.

The Rector continued his structural oversight in 1927, when he had the nave and tower re-floored, and the cheap modern pine roof of the porch replaced by the present fine oak roof.; the stone quorn and jambs of the windows and doors, which had been plastered in 1885, were exposed and pointed. The construction of the old gallery had necessitated the blocking of the north-west window in the nave, and the new window now put in vastly improved the appearance of the church. Moreover, splendid south doors in nave and chancel took the place of the old of cheap pine; the foundations of the Church were strengthened with cement concrete.

Much was added to the appearance of the chancel by the introduction of the oak stalls, while the re-building of the organ further beautified the service. Mr. John W. Rodger, of Clevis House, a churchwarden, to whom the author is deeply obligated, accepted full responsibility for the supervision of the 1927 alterations, the excellence of which may be judged by qualified observers.

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[Last Updated : 11 Nov 2002 by Gareth Hicks]