Welcome to ST MARY'S PARISH CHURCH at St Mary's Priory, Abergavenny
St Mary's Priory
 |
St Mary's Priory is the parish church for the town and community of Abergavenny and is one of the largest and finest parish churches in Wales. The parish stretches from the ancient Llanellen bridge to the top of the Sugar Loaf mountain – reputedly one of the ‘purple-headed mountains’ in the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful.
There is a daughter church Christchurch in North Street, which serves the western parts of the parish. Built as an iron church, it was then clad in cedar wood and has been restored in recent years.
St Mary’s Priory is in the Diocese of Monmouth, one of six dioceses in the Church in Wales, and is one of several ancient Benedictine foundations in the area. The Cathedral Church is Newport Cathedral, although, in 1921 when the diocese was founded, there was some thought given to making St Mary’s the Cathedral.
The Church in Wales
At the beginning of the 20th century, churches in Wales were part of the Church of England. But, partly to assert national identity, in 1919 the Church of England was disestablished in Wales, and then replaced the following year by the Church in Wales, which is both independent of the state and an independent member of the Anglican Communion.
For more information please visit the Church in Wales Website
Visiting the church
 |
There are currently three services each Sunday: Said Eucharist at 8.00am, sung Priory Eucharist at 11.00am and Choral Evensong at 5.00 pm (Evensong takes place at Christchurch on the 1st Sunday of the month). The list of services can be found on the weekly Pew Leaflet or on the noticeboard in the church porch.
Building Works at St Mary’s
On Monday morning (8th April), builders will be arriving in St Mary’s to install scaffolding needed to enable works to be done in the North Transept and Lewis Chapel which will take approximately six weeks. This means there will be no access to the Lewis Chapel, although Jesse will be accessible from the chancel area either by going through the choir stalls, or from the Herbert Chapel. Candles will still be able to be lit by the Crucifix, however, the candles by the Mary Icon should be accessed from the Nave altar area for safety reasons. The Wednesday 10am Eucharist service will take place in the Chancel during this period, and the Friday evening Evensong services will take place as usual in the Choir Stalls/Chancel (starting Friday 24th April). There will also be scaffolding around this works area outside the church by the Garden of Remembrance, which could make access to the garden problematic, but until the scaffolding has been erected, we are not sure how access will be affected but we hope there will be a path left for access to the garden. These areas will effectively be a building site whilst the works go on, so we would ask you to be aware at all times, as health and safety for all will be crucial.
Please bear with us during this time. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused, but this is major structural work to the church which must be done. If you have any queries, please speak with either Robin or Maggie (01873 858787) (if you can’t contact Robin), and we will try to answer your queries.
The church will remain open for visitors who wish to see the fine monuments or sit in quiet contemplation Monday to Friday from 10.00am until 2.00pm and Saturday from 10.00am until 3.00pm; sometimes we will open longer depending on availiability of staff.
A contactless payment system is now available for donations in the church.
We are tremendously grateful to all who are enabling the opening of the church by stewarding.
The Garden of Remembrance at St Mary’s will open at the same times as the church to allow people to tend and visit graves.
St Mary's Priory Church is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission, number 1137751.