St Peter's in Pentre, Rhondda Fawr is known as the "Cathedral of the Rhondda"; because it is the largest religious building in the whole of the Rhondda and can hold a congregation of 800 people.
St Peter's is a church in the Early English Gothic style. It was designed by Frederick R Kempson. The building costs of £20,000 were met by coal mine owner Griffith Llewellyn of Baglan Hall. The church was dedicated in 1890 to serve a community that was growing rapidly due to the coal boom.
The tower, which is over 100 ft high, dominates the local landscape in a community where churches with towers are few and chapels numerous. It is known among bell-ringers for its peal of 8 bells, including a tenor bell that weighs a massive 1,366kg and is the heaviest ringing bell in Wales.
The interior is well preserved. It features pink and buff bandings of dressed stone, extensive use of marble and a "tie-beam roof in the nave with arch-braces and collar purlin in the Glamorgan idiom"
An impressive drinking fountain, obviously built at the same time, stands on the main street next to the church. It bears two inscriptions in Welsh: Heb Dduw heb ddim (Without God there is nothing), Duw a digon (God is sufficient).
The church is reasonably close to the Pond Life cache. In fact, the photograph was taken not very far from Pond Life.
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