St John the Baptist, Rogerstone

A Brief History

At the west end of the church is a stone bearing the inscription:

“This stone was laid by Lord Tredegar

               18th August 1887”

It was laid by the second Lord Tredegar, Godfrey Morgan; later to become Viscount Tredegar. The parish owes much to the generosity of the Tredegar family, not least because of the gift of both church and church hall in Rogerstone.
The building of the church began in August 1887 and was completed probably in the summer of the following year. The Bishop of Llandaff consecrated the church, with its title and dedication being in honour of St. John the Baptist. The village of Rogerstone was provided with a fine church and the local people no longer had to walk to the parish church in Bassaleg for worship.
It should be remembered that, until 1920 and the disestablishment of the Church in Wales, the Parish of Bassaleg was in the Diocese of Llandaff and part of the Church of England. In September 1921 the Diocese of Monmouth was created by the Church in Wales, with the Right Reverend C.A.H. Green as its first bishop, and the Parish of Bassaleg became part of that Diocese, where it remains today.

The Building

The interior of the church building has an ‘open’ feel. The wooden pews are the original ones and can seat around 300. The font is near the main entrance at the rear and set into the floor nearby, and normally covered, is a baptising pool used for the immersion of older children and adults during their baptisms.
The window above the altar depicts the risen Christ outside the tomb on Easter morning, speaking to Mary of Magdala, with two angels looking on. To either side of the altar, the windows show Jesus as the 'Light of the World' and 'the Good Shepherd'.