The Gardens and Calvary (1917)
Standing here, you may be confused as to which door to use to enter the church! Whilst you’re pondering on that problem, enjoy the gardens, which offer a splash of colour along the very busy Splott Road.
The church grounds were first enclosed by railings in 1893, five years after the church was dedicated in 1888. Two years later the grass lawns were laid. A flag staff once stood here too, erected in 1911 in time for the coronation of George V “to bear testimony to the loyalty of Splott”
An obvious feature of the gardens is the Calvary, the gift of “a good friend’ which was almost certainly Mr Walter Thomas. A Memorial of the 44 men of Splott who gave their lives during the First World War, it was designed by Mr Hare of Bodley and Hare and blessed by Bishop Crossley on July 17, 1917.
The original plates containing the full list of men from Splott were unveiled by Lord Tredegar on November 11, 1921. Sadly, more names were to be added from future wars and conflicts.
Preceding the present St Saviour’s Church was an iron church of St Saviour opened on December 3, 1884. It was recycled from the old iron church of St German’s whose stone successor opened in October of that year.
Before that, the first Established Church in Splott was St Columba’s, a school chapel which opened in 1877.
By 1888, the district of S. Saviour’s had severed its connection with the old parish of St Margaret Roath, and was attached to St German’s when that church was created a Parish Church in 1886. This was a temporary measure, until St Saviour’s could itself become a Parish Church. This officially occurred in in 1893.
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