Welsh Journals

A NEW VICARAGE FOR SKETTY ROGER L. BROWN The new district of Sketty was formed from the large and unwieldy parish of Swansea in 1851. Its new church, St. Paul's, had been built the previous year by the Vivian family of Singleton. It was then claimed that the new church could seat 350 people. This represented a third of the total population of the new district, 1225. Compensation was paid to the vicar of Swansea for his loss of fees, though J. H. Vivian declined to purchase the Easter offerings of that district from the vicar of Swansea for the benefit of the new incumbent of St. Paul's. These, Vivian argued, were voluntary payments and if he wished he could discontinue them at once, though he had assured the present vicar of Swansea, Mr. Squire, that he would continue to pay him these offerings as a mark of esteem. Easter offerings were generally regarded as an offering of two-pence per head for all parishioners over the age of sixteen, though it was later defined as communicants. The custom was dying out by the 1850s and was not replaced by the Easter offering as we now know it until much later on in the century when offertories had become more common. John Walters, of 4 Calvert Street, was the parish clerk of St. Mary's, Swansea, and in those days his was an appointment which carried precise duties and legal dues. He became quite a nuisance for a while, for he too claimed compensation for the fees he would lose through the creation of this new district of Sketty. He appealed for help to the Ecclesiastical Commission. It replied it was unable to give advice on legal questions. Though Walters threatened legal proceedings against J. H. Vivian his own solicitor eventually persuaded him to take no further steps. The income of the new parish comprised an endowment of £ 40 per annum given by the Vivian family, and the income arising from renting the pews there were however one hundred free seats. It was a rather uncertain source of income for a man who wished to be independent in his ministry. The local tithes belonged to the lay rector of Swansea, Sir John Morris of Sketty Park, and to the vicar of Swansea. There was no vicarage. The incumbents were clearly expected to be men of private means. Bolney received a negative answer when he asked the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1866 if they were able to offer any assistance in increasing the value of the living. The first three vicars of Sketty lived in houses either purchased or rented by themselves. But such a positipn could not continue indefinitely. The Church was concerned that a parsonage house was provided in each parish, if only to ensure that the incumbent had no excuse for non-residence. Steps were therefore taken not only to provide a house but also to increase the value of the living.