Peter (Pedr)

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Around forty churches in Wales were dedicated to Peter in the Middle Ages. There is a discernable concentration in the extreme south-east, in an area extending up into eastern Breconshire and Radnorshire (and across the present border into Herefordshire where churches were formerly in the Diocese of St Davids). There are perhaps six dedications in Pembrokeshire, two in Ceredigion, and Peter is the patron of the major parish church in Carmarthen, but of no others in Carmarthenshire. In the northern half of Wales Peter is patron of several churches in Merioneth, one on the Llyn Peninsular, two on Anglesey, one in the Conwy valley and at Northop in Flintshire, and two in Denbighshire. A single dedication at Llandrinio in Montgomeryshire is shared with Paul and with Trinio. Peter also shares the dedication of Llandaff Cathedral with Paul, although Paul is not attested as a patron in earlier sources, and may have become associated with the cathedral as he shares his feast day with Peter on 29 June. The cathedral also saw the introduction of the cults of Welsh saints Dyfrig, Teilo and Euddogwy in the twelfth century, and Dyfrig or Teilo have tended to eclipse Peter as patrons of the Diocese of Llandaff.

Two churches have the dedication St Peter ad Vincula (St Peter in chains), which refers to the story in the Acts of the Apostles in which Peter is rescued from prison by an angel.

Beyond Wales, Peter's status as the leader of the early Christian church was reflected in his patronage of many monastic houses and churches. For example, he was patron of important abbeys at Gloucester, Glastonbury and Westminster, the cathedrals at York, Lichfield and Worcester, as well as over 1000 churches in Pre-Reformation England.

Peter has been chosen as the patron of many Anglican churches in Wales built in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including large town churches in Pwllheli, Goodwick, Pontardawe and Blaenavon. He is the patron of new Roman Catholic churches, such as the major Roman Catholic church in Roath, Cardiff, as well as a Methodist Chapel in Pembroke Dock.

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