Across the mouth of the Usk
…A visit to St Bride’s Wentloog
The parish of St Bride’s Wentloog shares a common boundary with the parish of Nash – now part of the Rectorial Benefice of Magor. However, they are divided by the powerful waters of the River Usk where it flows into the mighty Severn.
It was therefore highly fitting that twenty members from the churches within the Rectorial Benefice of Magor, through the ‘Flood 400’ group, travelled to St Bride’s church for a visit on a lovely summer evening. We were warmly welcomed by Fr David Matthews and some of the church members at St Bride’s, and Fr David gave a short introductory talk on the history of the church and particularly on the life and legends of St Bride (sometimes referred to as Bridget). We viewed the tablet in the south porch which records the ‘Great Flud’ of 1606; we were permitted to climb the church tower and from the roof enjoyed the spectacular views across the Wentloog and Caldicot Levels, as well as the north Somerset coast, and were able to imagine vividly the flood waters of 1607 and the devastation they must have caused.
Afterwards we were to watch a video of the restoration of this beautiful church as well as looking at an extensive collection of super photographs. The story of this church which was in a derelict condition and was closed for worship for a time, but which has now come alive again and has been fully restored, is a remarkable one and members of the churches at Nash, Goldcliff & Redwick were able to relate their own similar experiences to this wonderful tale.
After some very welcome tea & cakes (kindly provided by the ladies of St Bride’s) we were able to present Fr David with some tokens of our visit and a donation towards the work of the church in this community and then everyone readily retired to The Church House Inn!
It was a real joy for all involved to make new friends, share experiences and to learn a little of our fascinating Christian heritage in this area and to visit another important site within the history of the 1607 flood. We recommend that other church and community groups do likewise. Why not twin with one church & community similar to your own and one that’s very different? We all have so much to learn and so much to share about our history and about our work today!
Richard Jones