St John the Baptist Church, Cardiff

St John the Baptist Church is a Grade I listed parish church in Cardiff, Wales, the only church dating to pre-Medieval times in Cardiff city centre and the only medieval building other than Cardiff Castle.DescriptionBlack's Picturesque Guide through Wales described St John's as "an ancient and finely proportioned edifice, with a noble quadrangular tower, surmounted by pierced battlements and four open gothic pinnacles... It is justly admired, and forms a conspicuous feature in every view of the town." The same remains true today, with good views of the church from Church Street, Trinity Street and Working Street in the city centre.Newman describes the pinnacled west tower as a "magnificent marker". At a height of over 40 metres the tower is in four stages, faced in grey limestone ashlar with details in buff coloured Dundry stone.HistoryThe church was built in 1180 as a chapel of ease for the larger St Mary's Church, itself founded by Benedictine monks from Tewkesbury Abbey. Originally constructed of blue Lias, a Jurassic stone with layers of fossilised shells, it was sourced from Aberthaw. The walls were then originally dressed with an Oolitic freestone sourced from Dundry.St John's was sacked during a rebellion of Owain Glyndwr in 1404. The church was rebuilt in the second half of the 15th Century and given a perpendicular tower with a peal of ten bells. Today it still has a crown of openwork battlements, reminiscent of churches in the West Country of England, and is dated c.1490 because of the similar Jasper Tower of Llandaff Cathedral which was built at this time.