Our History
As the oldest building in Carmarthen still in use for its original purpose, the fascinating history of St Peter's dates back centuries.
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History tells us that the church stands on the site of a 1st Century gateway built by the Romans to defend the old town of Moridunum. The church would have been a simple timber structure in this period and not the impressive stone building of red sandstone and grey shale we see today.
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St Peter’s recorded history dates from 1107 when it was conferred by Henry I on Battle Abbey in Sussex, but the circular shape of the churchyard suggests there was an ancient Celtic church on the site long before then.
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The oldest parts of St Peter’s are the chancel, north transept, north aisle, and parts of the tower, all dating to the 13th Century. Much older is a Roman altar stone kept in the porch, near a 13th-Century coffin lid. There are also many historic monuments from the 17th-19th Centuries.
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St Peter’s is the only church in Wales to feature a Consistory Court, a place for administering the church's own legal system and where the Diocese of St Davids dealt with disputes relating to marriages and other subjects.
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It was here in 1555 that Bishop Henry Morgan heard the case of his predecessor Robert Ferrar, who was accused of heresy. Robert Ferrar was a Protestant and refused to become a Catholic, as required by the state. He was burned at the stake in Carmarthen’s market square on 30 March 1555. Another Protestant martyr was executed in Haverfordwest in 1558.
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The main body of the church consists of a long nave – the longest in the diocese - and chancel, separated from the south aisle by five arched bays. The church walls are built from rubble stone with slate roofs. The hammerbeam roofs were replaced by Buckingham Palace architect, John Nash, in 1785, but these were replaced again in 1861 as part of the mid-nineteenth-Century restorations. Many of the windows were replaced in 1846 or altered during the 1860s.
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The south porch was converted into a war memorial chapel in 1969, its door replaced with a pointed window. The main entrance to the church is via the door at the base of the tower.
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Prominent inside the church is the tomb chest of Battle of Bosworth stalwart Sir Rhys ap Thomas, topped by an effigy of himself and his wife. Rhys ap Thomas is reputed to have made the fatal blow to King Richard III. For more details see https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=rhys-ap-thomas-effigy-carmarthenhere for details .
In the chancel you can find the grave of Walter Devereux. He was Earl of Essex and one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite courtiers. His body was brought here after his death in 1576 in Ireland, where he was her Earl Marshall (officer in charge of state ceremonies).
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Another remarkable tomb is that of Charlotte Dalton, who died in 1832 aged 27. Her grandfather was King George III through his reputed secret marriage to Hannah Lightfoot in 1759. The couple had three children together including Catherine Augusta, who married Carmarthen doctor James Dalton in 1823. There was no annulment of a previous marriage before the king’s wedding in 1761 to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
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The church organ, by George Pike England, dates from 1796 and was reputedly intended for Windsor Castle but gifted by George III to the church instead.
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In the churchyard, you can see the table-shaped tomb of General Sir William Nott (north of the church). He was a popular military leader, commemorated by a statue in Nott Square. The press reported that his funeral procession in 1845 was the biggest ever in Wales.
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The above was compiled from these articles:
https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=555
https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=st-peter-s-church-carmarthen
