A History of St. Pauls Church, Cwm

It is interesting to see names that have been associated with this parish in the past.
Mr. E. D. Peters was people's warden for many years and Mr. W. H. Peters, Vestry clerk.
Names that also appear quite frequently are G. G. Pratten, L. Coombes, R. E. Wickson, C. Read, W. D. Jones.
An entry dated April 22, 1919, reads: "The Vicar opened the meeting with prayer and remarked that this meeting was rather an historical one as it would probably be the last vestry meeting, owing to the passing of the Welsh Church Bill, which would come in force six months after peace was signed".
The Bill in fact did not abolish the Easter Vestry. It did, however, bring about the decline in the prestige of the office of Sidesmen, for under the constitution, drawn up for the Church in Wales, a great deal of their work was vested in the new Parochial Church Council.
It was at this meeting Mr. R. E. Wickson was elected people's warden.
On April 6, 1920, we have the election of the first Parochial Church Council. It was made up of: Mesdames Sproule, Pritchard, Roberts, Day, Read, Coombes, Peters, Saunders, Hill, Foley, Paget, Knee. Messrs. W. Waiters, W. Foley, G. West, C. Saunders, C. Coombes, J. Evans, G. Pratten, C. Read and the secretary W. H. Peters. Ex-officio were Vicar and two church wardens. The wardens, Mr. L. Coombes and Mr. R. E. Wickson, were elected as the lay representatives for the parish on the Patronage Board. Thus the new constitution of the Church in Wales was brought into this parish.
But, another very important event had taken place that year. In his opening remarks at the vestry meeting the Vicar reminds the Parish that Victoria and Waunlwyd had been formed into a Conventional District, and his colleague, the Rev. E. V. Phillips, had been appointed its first curate-in-charge.
Thus the connection between Victoria and Cwm came to an end, after twenty years.


Mr R C Read (see text opposite) is the second from the left. The person next to him is thought to be the vicar. The photo is dated 1930

Setbacks
The business at the meeting on May 5, 1920 was the Million Pound Fund. This was to be raised throughout the Province to replace some of the monies which had been taken from the Church in Wales when she was Disestablished and Disendowed.
It was decided to collect subscriptions and collectors were appointed.
At a meeting on June 7, 1920, the Council were forced to discuss "the havoc caused to the Church through subsidence". It was decided that to continue with the building programme was out of the question (this probably referred to the tower).
It was proposed that a temporary vestry be erected "inside the lower end of the north aisle".
On July 26, 1920, it was reported that £226.10s.3d had been collected for the Million Pound Fund and Miss Roberts (of the Mission) was thanked for her part in distributing leaflets for special services in connection with the Fund.
Miss Roberts for many years worked hard at the Mission. Her presence is still felt, her name reverenced and loved. Without doubt she played her part loyally in the work of the parish during her time here as a lay worker and district visitor.
There is little in the minute books concerning Miss Roberts or the Mission. It was a boot and shoe shop and was purchased by the Rev. D. J. Sproule and others, from Mr. T. J. Moore on July 14, 1915.
It must have been about this time, or a little later, that Miss Roberts came to the parish for, so we understand, the house was bought as living accommodation.
At first the premises, at Marine Street, were used solely as a house, but later a part of it was used by Miss Roberts for Sunday School work and as a weekly meeting place for women and girls.
After Miss Roberts's time, the introduction of weekly and Sunday services was made by Mr. R. C. Read.
By September, 1920 plans were being drawn up by Mr. L. Coombes for alterations at the Parish Hall, and in another minute (April 6, 1920) there is a brief reference to the organ fund. Mr. Sproule said "there was much to be thankful for and to take courage and go forward. The new organ had been erected free of debt, and general collections had increased".
In November, 1920, he asked that the magazine be reintroduced. It had been suspended, because of the cost of printing, in 1918. It was decided to publish for one year, but in fact it continued without a break from 1921 to 1933.
In 1921 the parish came of age and at the Patronal Festival on January 25 the vicar had as special preachers the Rev. J. L. Croft and Rev. L. Evans, a former curate who was in the parish for many years. He had married a Miss Pritchard from Victoria and his first son became the Archdeacon of Monmouth, the Ven. Ernest Evans, now retired.
In May, 1922, the vicar dealt with the proposed memorials to Mr. E. W. Peters, warden and Sunday school superintendent and Mr. G. Pratten the Verger and sidesman. The War Memorial for the 1914-18 war was also discussed.
The memorials to Mr. Peters and Mr. Pratten are the windows in the Sanctuary. The Unveiling and Dedication of the War Memorial windows was held on July 24, 1922. They were unveiled by Lt. Colonel J. Evans, D.S.O., T.D. and dedicated by the Archdeacon of Monmouth.
On May 29 the clearing of the church-yard and south side of the church was talked over and it was decided to continue this work under the direction of Mr. L. Coombes, who was given the contract for the erection of a retaining wall. Unemployed members of the church were to carry out the work of clearing the site. At a special meeting of the council on May 7, 1923, the plan drawn up by Mr. Coombes was discussed and it was agreed to follow it in detail.
A building committee was formed of Messrs. C. Read, W. Waiters, W. D. Jones, E. Goddard, D. F. Jukes and the Vicar and Wardens. Later, at a meeting held on July 30, it was stated that a loan had been secured from Barclay's Bank for the work and the interest was 4 per cent. The sum borrowed is not stated.