St John the Baptist Church, Cardiff
St John the Baptist Church is a Grade I listed Anglican church in Cardiff, Wales. It sits on St John Street in the city centre and is one of the oldest medieval buildings in the area, alongside Cardiff Castle.
The church was built around 1180 as a chapel of ease for St Mary’s. It was made from blue Lias stone from Aberthaw, with freestone dressings from Dundry. St John’s was damaged in 1404 during Owain Glyndŵr’s rebellion and was rebuilt in the late 15th century. It received a tall Perpendicular Gothic tower with ten bells and a crown of battlements, standing over 40 metres high.
After St Mary’s was damaged by the Bristol Channel flood in 1607, St John’s and St Mary’s worked as a dual parish until 1620, when most services moved to St John’s. In 1843 the 2nd Marquess of Bute funded a new church (St Mary and St Stephen) in Bute Street, which allowed St John’s to be rebuilt and extended in 1886–1897 using Culverhouse Cross limestone. The graveyard wall was rebuilt with a mix of Lias and red sandstone, and a public path through the graveyard was created in the 1890s to link Working Street with Cardiff Central Market; the church still owns the path, which is closed on Good Friday.
The church pews were replaced in 1851 by Thomas & Norris. Stained glass windows date from the 1850s and 1869, with the latter by Morris & Co and apostles designed by William Morris. Outer aisles were added in 1889 and 1891, and the interior was resurfaced with Sweldon limestone.
St John’s was designated Grade I in 1952. It is the priory church for Wales of the Order of Saint John. The organ, built in 1894 by Henry Willis, was restored in 2005 and, in 2013, received a Grade I Historic Organ Certificate. Today the church remains active and open to worship and visitors.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:44 (CET).