Denomination: Anglican

Dedication: St John the Baptist

Built: 1850

Photography: John Ball
Date: 1 October 2009
Camera: Nikon D50 digital SLR

Note 1: The parish church of St John the Baptist [is] set on a hillside overlooking lower Skewen. The churchyard contains graves dating back to the 1850s. [Source: Images of Wales: Webpage Archive (elsewhere on this website)]

Note 2: St. John's Church, parish church of Skewen ... was consecrated in 1850. [Source: Guide to Dyffryn Clydach on Dai Bevan's website]

Image 4, 5:

The east window (Image 4) and ornate pulpit (Image 5).

Image 6:

The high altar and reredos.

Image 7, 8:

Plaque on north wall of nave (left), and baptismal font (right) in same style as pulpit.

Image 9-11:

A selection of memorial plaques on the walls of the nave.

Image 12, 13:

One of the many interesting gravestones and inscriptions in the churchyard at St John's.

The inscription tells the sad tale of the tragic death of thirty-year-old Joshua Williams, Chief Engineer of the S.S.Rhiwabon cargo ship, which ran aground and was wrecked off Smalls Lighthouse on 29 January 1884. Only seven of the crew survived. The Smalls is a group of wave-washed rocks approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of the Marloes Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The lighthouse was erected in 1861 to replace a previous lighthouse dating from 1776 on the same site. It is the most remote lighthouse operated by Trinity House. Joshus Williams was the grandson of Francis Taylor of Neath Abbey. Francis Taylor, originally from Cornwall, worked at the Neath Abbey Iron Works. His family later headed the Taylor & Sons iron foundry in Briton Ferry. There are several gravestones of members of this Taylor family in St John's churchyard.