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Remembering Holy Cross

12/1/2013

30 Comments

 
Picture
This is a gravestone in Holy Cross churchyard in Tan y Groes Street. It was the phrase 'Lost at Sea' that made me stop and take the photograph, the power of those words to conjure stories of shipwrecks and bravery, of storms and of a family waiting at home for news. I will try and find the story that belongs to Capt. John Clark.

Holy Cross was built in 1827. CRM Talbot of the Margam Estate donated the land at Tonygroes Farm to build an Anglican chapel of ease that would be more accessible for the people of Taibach. The mother church, the Abbey Church of St Mary's at Margam, was over two miles away. 

It was built on a field called Pedair erw (Four acre) and the services were originally held in Welsh and later in English. 

After the completion of St. Theodore's (1897), on Talbot Road, the new Parish of St Theodore's was created and Holy Cross became its subsidiary and was mainly used as a Sunday school. It underwent renovation at the beginning of the 20th century and again in 1915. Electricity was installed in 1949.

There were services at Holy Cross until 2008 when the condition of the building was judged too dangerous for worship and too expensive to repair. It closed formally on 31st December that year and was declared redundant by the Archbishop of Wales in 2009 but it hasn't yet been sold.

A lot of the graves have yellow stickers on them, warning you that they're likely to topple. So much of the graveyard is overgrown and in disrepair; the names engraved into stone are ivy wrapped and worn. I met a man there on one of my visits, laying flowers on his wife's family's grave in the far left-hand corner, where the land slopes down towards the supporting wall of the motorway. His presence felt as if it was honouring all the other people buried there too, among them some of the victims from the Morfa Colliery disaster in 1890 that killed 87 men. As if only by walking through he was saying, 'You are not forgotten.'

Picture
Sources
Evans, A. Leslie, The History of Taibach & District (privately published 1963) 
Roberts, Mike, 'Holy Cross Church', St Theodore's Website

30 Comments
AllenBlethyn
12/1/2013 08:02:31 am

Dont forget that the bottom corner near Tan y Groes Street is named Roderick`s corner,because my family stone masons yard was just across the road there.

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Dorothy Harris
28/4/2013 01:40:18 pm

How do I find the burial records for the Chaple of Ease. Many members of my family are buried there.

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Lynne Rees link
28/4/2013 03:45:50 pm

Hi Dorothy - the best person to contact is Allen Blethyn. You can find him on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/allen.blethyn?fref=ts - and send him a message. He set up the Taibach and District Facebook group too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1942allenblethyn/ .

Tell him I suggested you contact him.
Best wishes
Lynne

Reply
Lorraine Stevenson link
7/6/2013 08:29:09 am

I have only just read your entry, it brought tears to my eyes. Beautifully wrote.

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Lynne link
7/6/2013 09:06:11 am

Thanks, Lorraine.

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Brian Watts
21/9/2014 05:59:56 am

Hello to you all this my first time to do anything like this so please bear with me. I would like to ask you can any body give some information on Twlch an yr wall excuse the spelling look forward to hearing from you
regards Brian

Reply
Lynne link
21/9/2014 08:43:53 am

Hi Brian - send me an email - lynne@lynnerees.com and I'll send some links to information on Twll yn y Wal. Are you a member of the Port Talbot Old and New Group on Facebook? If you're not ask to become a member/join as there'll be some links that take you to that page.
Best
Lynne Rees

Reply
Allyson Gibbs
1/3/2016 03:16:55 pm

Hi,
I don't know if anyone will pick up this message or if anyone here can advise, is it still possible to have ashes interred in a family grave in the Chapel of Ease graveyard? Who would I contact?

Reply
Lynne Rees link
1/3/2016 03:33:34 pm

Hello Allyson

The church was closed and declared redundant by the Church of Wales about 7 or 8 years ago and both the church and all its land are now privately owned. So it seems very unlikely. Here's the link for the planning application to change to residential use, and the documents may help you contact the owner if you decided to do that. But I imagine that health and safety issues would be a huge obstacle. Best wishes.
http://planning.npt.gov.uk/detail.asp?AltRef=P2011/0600&ApplicationNumber=&AddressPrefix=Holy+Cross&submit2=Go

Reply
Allyson Gibbs
1/3/2016 04:21:56 pm

Thank you for the prompt response.

I'm sorry, the land is privately owned? So someone owns the land that my grandparents are buried in? Or have the graves been moved?

I'm sorry for the questions, I haven't lived in Port Talbot for many years and so I'm a bit out of touch. Thanks for your help.

Lynne Rees link
1/3/2016 07:13:56 pm

Hello again, Allyson - I'm sorry to be the bearer of this news. Why don't you email me privately - lynne@lynnerees.com - and we can talk more freely.

Best
Lynne

Reply
tina
10/3/2016 04:00:56 pm

I don't agree with what they going to do with holy cross and the graveyard many peoples family including mine have been buried there however long ago it is i think they should spend the money on the church and graveyard instead of building more houses

Reply
Lynne link
10/3/2016 04:53:11 pm

Not to worry. They're not building more houses there, Tina. It's just the church that was sold (by the Church of Wales) and residential permission given by the local council. And only a small number of older stones, near the church, are being moved. The vast majority of the graveyard remains untouched and is still the responsibility of the Church of Wales. Public access remains the same too. I hope that helps.

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Vic Cartwright
5/2/2017 06:57:10 pm

Hi Lynn. My grandfather, Victor Newbury, is buried somewhere in the graveyard. Who can l contact for information on his graves location?

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Lynne Rees link
5/2/2017 07:12:04 pm

Hello Vic - send me your email address to lynne@lynnerees.com and I'll put you in touch with someone who is on site and who can help.

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vic cartwright
11/3/2017 11:44:28 am

Hello Lynne - sorry I forgot my e-mail address. I know the grave is near the M4 flyover.....but the graves are unmarked in the vicinity of my grandfathers grave. I hope you can help

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Lynne Rees
11/3/2017 12:51:16 pm

I still don't have your email addy, Vic! You need to email it to me on lynne@lynnerees.com. Or, if you do Facebook take a look, and ask to join, Friends of Holy Cross Taibach Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1235782786489342/

Sian
7/2/2017 11:43:31 am

Hi

Can i just ask is this the cemetery by the M4 just as you come over from Goytre

thansk

Reply
Lynne link
7/2/2017 12:22:13 pm

Yes, Sian, that's right. The graveyard stretches from the roundabout at the church gate right down to the M4.

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Andrew Black
8/10/2017 11:17:43 am

Is it possible to get a list of those buried at the Church . I believe my relatives may be there - Congdons from Ccornwall?

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Lynne Rees link
8/10/2017 12:09:56 pm

Hello Andrew. You didn't leave an email address so I hope you pick up this reply.

I've checked the burial records for Holy Cross 1871 to 1897 and 1897 to 1940 and there's nothing for Congdon. I did find Congdons (originating from Cornwall) living in Neath and Briton Ferry on the 1881 and 1891 censuses. Perhaps if you have the death certificates you can check where they were living at the time of their deaths and that will suggest where they might have been buried. Let me know if I can be of any further help, You can email me directly on lynne@lynnerees.com

And in the meantime I'll check with a local historian who may have information about the family name.

Reply
Lynne Rees link
8/10/2017 12:27:55 pm

Hi again, Andrew. Update: I found lots of Congdons living in the Margam area on the 1861 and 1871 census. I'm just trying to find out if there are any other burial records for Holy Cross that I can access - not just the Roderick (local stonemason) ones. I'll get back to you.

Reply
Andrew
11/11/2017 11:58:05 am

Just realized that my relatives , the Congdon's married into the Thomas family and I have found them on the pdf list - thanks ever so much for that , so pleasing . By luck they have unusual names Moses and Job. Thanks again . Richard

Richard Farnfield
11/11/2017 11:55:03 am

I have the pdf file and found some of my relatives buried at the Holy Cross.Thanks ever so much for that . Just out of interest it seems to me there are" thousands" of names on the list - is it possible they were all buried in such a small place ? Just curious.
Thanks Richard

Reply
Lynne Rees link
11/11/2017 12:47:47 pm

It's not that small actually - the graveyard extends all the way to the wall of the M4. Also some graves have multiple burials. And it all began back in 1827 too. Pleased you found your relatives.

Reply
Richard Farnfield
11/12/2017 10:08:03 am

Lynn - can ask you another general question - like most people in the 1880's my relatives were agri. workers who turned to tin works , mining etc. Is it probable in most cases the family couldn't afford gravestones ? My guess is they were wooden stakes which rotted away. Am I correct on this ?

Lynne Rees link
14/12/2017 12:52:22 pm

Hello again, Richard - yes, I'm sure that would have been the case. A stone memorial would have been beyond the financial resources of many families. Although there may have never been any marker either. I know of one grave in Holy Cross that was merely bricked around the perimeter with no marker at all and was only recently found. And some of my own family graves in West Wales were never marked either. They probably would have been attended to by surviving family members for some years then as they passed on the grave would have become overgrown. It's sad. And I have one particular grave from my own family that I really do want to find and rectify that situation.

However local burial records should have recorded everyone who was buried whether or not there was a marker/memorial stone.

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Richard Farnfield
15/12/2017 12:34:23 pm

Thanks again Lynne , you have been so helpful ,

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Richard Farnfield
21/4/2018 01:08:58 pm

Lynne , I now realize that my relatives passed away starting from the 1900's to 1930 . Since this is later on than I first thought, I would like to search the areas mentioned " near old wall " . Is there a way I can get a grave map to help ?

Reply
Lynne Rees link
21/4/2018 02:05:19 pm

I think I can get a plan of the graveyard, or direct you to that section. You'll need to email me, Richard - lynne@lynnerees.com - so I can send it to you in my reply,




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    Lynne Rees

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    Lynne Rees was born and grew up in Port Talbot and blogs as 'the hungry writer' at www.lynnerees.com. Her book, Real Port Talbot, an upbeat and offbeat account of the town and surrounding area, from Bryn to Sandfields, from Margam to Baglan Bay, and everything in between, is published by Seren Books.

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