Madam,

I read with incredulity the letter from your Carmarthen-based correspondent, Adrian Murphy (Church an empty, decaying structure).

As a trustee of the Diocese of Menevia, Mr Murphy should check his facts before making such sweeping and insensitive statements which do little to further the cause of the diocese and, indeed, must only strengthen the resolve of all those who wish to see St Winefride’s Church saved and restored to its proper use.

How can he justify his statement that the church is of ‘no particular architectural merit’ and thus ignore the views of bodies such as The Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, The Victorian Society, Save Great Britain’s Heritage and the Aberystwyth Civic Society?

The importance of the church in the history of Roman Catholicism in Post Reformation Mid Wales and, also, regarding the Welsh language, all add to its unique character and history but is all conveniently overlooked by Mr Murphy. It does, though, demonstrate how out-of-touch, insensitive and dismissive of Aberystwyth and its heritage, he and his fellow trustees are.

St Winefride’s should and must be restored, and the sooner the diocesan plans to renovate the eyesore in Penparcau, burdening the parish with a huge debt in the process, are dropped the better!

Yours etc,

David Gorman, Maesheli, Penparcau, Aberystwyth.

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