The Old Church of Oystermouth

I like those high-backed roomy pews,

Where one can kneel unseen;

Free from distractions from without,

They are a pleasant screen.

An excerpt from a mid 19C 

                    poem by Ellen Edmond     

The centre of  life of the village was the church. Said to have been built on the site of a Roman villa, the Parish Church of All Saints was not as we know it today, being poor and 'often served by a succession of Perpetual Curates rather than Vicars'. During our period of study,  these were  Miles Basset who had been there since 1763 ( who was also Vicar of St. Mary's, Swansea for fifty-seven years  plus  a Perpetual Curate at three other places) and from 1814 until 1821, John Purnell [sic] Oldisworth, who was appointed by Thomas Perrott 'and others.'  They had not had to undergo Institution or induction for this post and their position was above that of a Curate, but below that of a Vicar, their income deriving from the Diocese. During this time, the Rev. John Jones was the Curate, Samuel Gammon, the Churchwarden and  James Maslin [sic], Parish Clerk.

Prior to its 1860 improvements, the church was 'long and narrow, having one aisle about three feet wide, which, as the doors of the pews open into it, is a very confined mode of ingress and egress. The 'three-decker' pulpit  (a pulpit with a Clerk's stall below it and a reading desk below that) is against a damp north-facing wall, the light bestowed on it, one side by a pretty but ruinous small-paned window and by an ugly square one on the other.  The pews in the belfry and the chancel are far from the pulpit and there are two galleries, one being reached by an outside staircase on the west side of the porch and the other from the aisle, by way of the old rood-loft stairs. Some pews (for the better-off) are boarded, but owing to the dampness, the wood is decayed; others not boarded, are of  earth and many luxuriate in oyster shells and decayed straw. The poorest section of the community had to sit on forms further away from the pulpit. All was pervaded by musty smells  and the place chilled by dampness'. 

         The chief cause of the decay was lack of money for repairs and the fact that burials over many years had raised the level of the ground outside above the floor level inside, allowing damp to seep in. Frequent patching and white-washing organised by the Churchwardens had failed to stop the deterioration, even though a fire was sometimes provided and several windows were blocked up. There were three old bells, two dating from 1674 and one from 1714 cast, it is thought, by two brothers, David and Thomas Davies in their foundry in Oystermouth.

         In 1812, an Act of Parliament (Geo III, c 146) for the 'Better Regulation and Preserving of Parish and Other Registers', known as George Rose's Act,  stipulated that records of baptisms, marriages and burials should henceforth be registered in three separate books, which were to be kept 'in a well-painted iron chest . .  which was to be kept locked in a dry and secure place . . . and was to be repaired as occasion may require at the expence [sic] of the Parish.' This was acquired  and is still used today.

         During the time of Rev. Oldisworth, services  were conducted at 11.00am and 3.00 pm from Easter to November, but only at 11.00 am in the winter, as daylight was in short supply and  there were only candles or flickering oil lamps for illumination.

         Rev. Oldisworth lived latterly at Norton Cottage until his death in 1821. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Lady Chapel.

During the time of the Regency, into this space (which was probably much as described  above, some forty years later) came the locals to take part in their Rites of Passage.

         There were one hundred and fifty one baptisms, the first being that of  John Davies, son of John and Catherine on 19 February 1811 and the final one of the period of Ann, daughter of William Harry, a miller  and  his wife, Jane of Blackpill on 2 January 1820. Among the village children (tackers) were David Michael, baptised in 1796 and Catherine Evans, in 1799, who would grow up and marry in 1821, eventually  becoming parents to eleven children and living into their eighties. There was John Bowen, who would one day become a stone mason,  marry Elizabeth Lewis and become father to seven children. Other tackers included William Bowen, John Bydder, Amy and Catherine Gammon, Elizabeth Givelin, Jane Kift and Henry Nicholas.

 There were thirty-six marriages, including that of a William Collier* who came to Mumbles around 1814 and married a local girl, Ann Phillips on 14 September 1819, perhaps involving the old custom of ‘Bidding’ Weddings (also known as ‘Beading’ or ‘Bridewain’), which was often celebrated with feasting and frivolity. This served a social purpose — a day to 'let their hair down', as well as a practical one of helping each couple set up home.

The bride and bridegroom, both called ‘Brides’, would have the banns called in Church. A Beader would be appointed to invite the guests. He, carrying a staff decorated with red, white and blue ribbons, would call at each house and sing the ‘Bidding Rhyme’ to those invited.  At the ‘Wedding House,’ brewing would start immediately, and continue until the ‘big day’, the brew being sold to anyone and the proceeds going to the Couple. On the eve of the wedding, relatives and friends would visit the Wedding House (not necessarily the bride's house, but chosen for convenience or perhaps because there was a good sized kitchen or maybe in a barn) and bring ‘presents’ of currant loaves.

On the day itself, the ‘brides’ would leave the Wedding House together and, accompanied by their guests, walk to the Church, led by a fiddler, whose fiddle was bedecked with white ribbons. After the Church ceremony, the procession would reform and march to the nearest local, where the brides would thank the innkeeper for allowing them to ‘steal his trade’. Then after leaving, they would be stopped several times from proceeding by ropes stretched across the road. This ‘chaining of the Brides’ would be followed by a demand for a money toll, which would be paid and the procession would then walk to the Wedding House, where a lovely dinner would be waiting for them.

There the ‘brides’ would sit side by side at the head of one table and next to them, the ‘bidder.’ He would go round the assembled guests with two plates for contributions and would receive the gift on one plate, call out the name of the donor, the amount would be recorded in a book by another man and the money transferred to the other plate. The single guests would give or ‘Heave’, money, which would  help the happy couple to set up home. This was on the understanding that when it came their turn to be married, the money would be returned in the same way. The happy couple would also receive household goods from family and other friends.

This small, damp church would be destined to be improved in 1860 and modernised and a further extension in 1916.

Acknowledgements:

All Saints' Church Parish Register

Our Village wants a Church,  a booklet published in 1859

A History of Oystermouth, 1895

Orin, G. R., Cowley, F, G. A History of All Saints' Church, Oystermouth, 1990

Philips, I., Guide to All Saints' , this Parish Church of Oystermouth, 1961