Penarth : the only spire in town

The church spire I can see from my window, the spire that acts as a landmark for me to find my way home when I’m out walking, the spire of Trinity Methodist Church is, in fact, the only spire on any of Penarth’s churches.

I don’t usually set much store by anything I find on Wikipedia, but I was interested to note in the entry on Penarth that it says this is ‘the only spire left in town’ [my emphasis], which implies some of the other churches did once have spires.

I have read, on their Friends website, that there were plans during the Second World War to demolish the 90-foot tower of St Augustine’s Church so the prominent landmark couldn’t be used by German bombers to home in on Cardiff docks. And perhaps that information gives a pointer as to why other church spires might not have survived but Trinity’s has. As Trinity Church sits at a much lower elevation, it is much less obvious in the landscape, at least from the air, and any enemy navigators could more easily use St Augustine’s position as their target.

Whatever the reasons, it’s a lovely spire and, along with the rest of the church and the adjoining hall, is Grade II listed. The British Listed Buildings website describes it as an ‘impressive spire in C19 version of Perpendicular Style’ [the church was built in 1901] and the ‘Pinnacled tower has buttresses and parapet with quatrefoil decoration; three stages surmounted by broach spire with lucarnes [the dormer-type windows]; iron weathervane.’ And a very nice weathervane it is, too, of a Rooster, as is commonly found on many church spires.