The Devil, or ‘Old Nick’ as he quickly became known, was remembered for his mocking facial expression and piercing eyes, which stared directly at the newly re-built St Mary’s Church. But, on the outside of the building this architect affixed his revenge: a 3-foot-tall wooden sculpture of a devil. He tore them down and built a single red brick building (which eventually became the local brewery offices). A few years after the new church was finished, this local architect purchased several houses across the street. St Mary’s Church in Swansea today, though this one was not designed by Blomfield (photograph taken by the author)Ī local architect, insulted that his submission was snubbed, decided to enact revenge in a rather unusual fashion. However, not everyone was happy with this choice.

Many individuals from across Britain sent in designs in the hopes of getting the contract, which was eventually awarded to the well-known English architect Sir Arthur Blomfield who, among other things, designed the Royal College of Music in London. In the late nineteenth century, it was decided that St Mary’s Church, which had existed in central Swansea in some form since the fourteenth century, would be re-built. However, if you believe local Swansea legends, a sculpture’s intentions can have far more destructive consequences. Statues, monuments, and sculptures can be built or installed for a myriad of reasons, and the intentions of their creators can often shape how they are viewed within public spaces. (This blog post is the fourth in a short series by Hannah Lyons, MA student in Public History and Heritage at Swansea University, introducing the monuments and statues of Swansea for the 2021 CRAM ‘Contested Histories’ Conference) The Swansea Devil or ‘Old Nick’ (photograph taken by the author)

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