HOME

ABOUT THE PROJECT

SEARCH FOR  A PLAN

CHILDREN'S RESOURCES

LINKS

Why?

Where?

Who?

Worship

Education

Leisure

Worship

Cardiff has always been a town where there were people from lots of different backgrounds and religions. The town’s rapid growth during the 19th century attracted workers from Britain and around the world. Many settled and in 1911 the foreign male population of Cardiff was second only to London. Many more visitors stayed only a short time, particularly the sailors on foreign registered vessels calling at the docks.

Irish

Famines in Ireland in the 1840s meant many people left the country. During this time the docks at Cardiff were being built and people found work as labourers and dockworkers. The Irish emigrants mainly came from the south and the west of the country, where the Catholic faith was strong. By 1880 there were 6 Catholic parishes in Cardiff and after the 3rd Marquess of Bute converted to Roman Catholicism, mass was regularly said at the castle.

Jewish

The first synagogue in Cardiff opened at East Terrace, Bute Street in 1858. It served a small but established Jewish population. In 1841 the Marquis of Bute had given land at Highfield for the Jewish Cemetery. Bute Street was the focus for several Jewish businesses, engaged in occupations such as shop keeping and pawn broking.

As the population rose steadily the synagogue at East Terrace was redeveloped and reopened in 1888. The following year Cardiff’s New Synagogue was formed at Edwards Place. Known as ‘Furriners Shul’ it seems that this was the focus for the more recent, poorer immigrants, in contrast to the ‘Englishe Shul’ in East Terrace. However there was still a need for larger premises and the Marquess of Bute gave a site in Cathedral Road. This synagogue opened in 1897 following a closure service held in East Terrace.

The New Synagogue also secured a site from Bute and in 1900 the synagogue in Clare Road opened.

Return to top of page

Synagogue and School Rooms, Clare Road, Grangetown, 1898.

[BC/S1/13310]

Return to top of page

The two communities soon merged, and the Cardiff United Synagogue was formed. With the ever increasing expansion of the city and the movement of the Jewish population away from the centre of Cardiff a need arose for synagogues nearer the residential districts .

The first reform synagogue was founded in 1947. To begin with it used the United Nations Association Temple of Peace in Cathays Park until in 1953 a synagogue in the Old Primitive Methodist Church Moria Place was opened.

Norwegian

A substantial group of Norwegians, Swedes and Danes settled in Cardiff. This was why Pastor Lars Oftedal set up the Norwegian Seamen’s Mission in 1866.

Increased Scandinavian and especially Norwegian shipping in the Bristol Channel meant many more sailors needed the church and Mission. In 1920 a new Church and Institute on Clarence Road was proposed and plans were drawn up. The plans were accompanied by a letter. This puts forward the case for building accommodation for the large numbers of Norwegian visitors. Although the plans were approved it seems that nothing was actually built. [BC/S1/20624]

During the Second World War the Norwegian community increased, and more Norwegians passed through the port as seamen and refugees. The church and staff worked hard with the local branch of the Norwegian seaman’s union to provide for its people. The Norwegian merchant Navy paid a significant role in the Allied war effort. Heavy bombing in Cardiff even made shore leave unsafe when the Scandinavian Seamen’s home in Bute Road was hit and destroyed.

The church closed in 1959.The Seaman’s Church (Sjømannskireken) was prefabricated in Norway. Then it was shipped to Cardiff. It was of typical Norwegian style although made of corrugated iron sheets as the port authorities insisted it was easily dismantled. In 1987 the church was dismantled and reassembled in a new location overlooking Cardiff Bay. It was officially opened as a cultural centre.

Mosques

Trade between Britain and Asia increased after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Sailors from ports in Somalia and the Yemen made frequent and regular visits to Cardiff, and many settled. However it was not until after the Second World War that a mosque was finally constructed. In 1938 several plans for mosques in Peel Street were drawn up by the architect O V Webb. Although granted approval, none of them were built.

Return to top of page

Plan for Peel Street Mosque, Butetown, 1938. Although the plan was submitted and approved, this design was never built. [BC/S1/33198]

In 1939 the architect TE Smith submitted plans for the conversion of three houses in Peel Street into a temporary mosque, a proposal again approved and finally acted upon. This was bombed in the war and in 1947 new plans drawn up by Webb were approved and a mosque built.

 

Plan for Peel Street Mosque, Butetown, 1946. After the Second World War the mosque was built to a simpler design.

[BC/S1/35865]

This was demolished in 1988 in preparation for a new mosque on the site.

Return to top of page

 

The range of religious buildings that can be found in the city reflect the many different faiths in Cardiff.

St Catherine's Church in Wales Church, King's Road, Canton, 1883. Designed by John Prichard.

[BC/S1/3990]

Return to top of page

Greek Orthodox Church, North Church Street, Butetown, 1906.

[BC/S1/16202]

Return to top of page

Some of the buildings, erected for one denomination, have been converted for use by another.

Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Crwys Road, 1899. Now the Shah Jalal Mosque. [BC/S1/13732]

Return to top of page