Church of St Basil, Bassaleg
St Basil's Church stands in the village of Bassaleg, to the west of the city of Newport, Wales. It is an active parish church and a Grade II* listed building. St Basil's sits within the Tredegar Park Ministry Area which covers an area at the west of the city of Newport. It also hosts a community choir.
History
Cadw dates the church to the 14th century, although it stands on the site of an earlier priory. The church was restored between 1878 and 1879 by Habershon and Fawckner and renovated in 190203 by Charles Busteed Fowler.Since the very early 19th century a chapel within the church has been used as mausoleum for the Morgan family, prominent local landowners whose Tredegar House estate lies just to the south; this chapel was rebuilt in 1916 by W. D. Caröe for Courtenay Morgan. There is also a Morgan family burial plot in the church graveyard, which was renovated in the 21st century by the Lord Tredegar Memorial Trust.
A memorial in the churchyard commemorates Gwyneth Ericka Morgan, the daughter of Courtenay Morgan, who is also buried in the plot. Her disappearance in 1924, and the recovery of her body from the River Thames in 1925 was the subject of much speculation. Gwyneth was originally buried in London, but was re-interred at St Basil's after her brother, Evan Morgan, succeeded their father as head of the Morgan family in 1934. Gwyneth Morgan was the last member of the family to be buried at St Basil's, as her brother and subsequent heads of the family were catholics and buried elsewhere, the last dying in 1962.