Swansea Devil

The Swansea Devil — also called the Old Nick of Swansea — is a life-sized wooden carving of a grinning, horned figure, salvaged from the demolished Bowen building opposite St Mary's Church. He now stands inside the entrance porch of the rebuilt church, leering down at visitors.

The story of his alleged curse on the church is a Swansea favourite, and the carving is one of the city's odder pieces of folk-history. You can see him during church opening hours for free.

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A story
When Sir Thomas Bowen lost the contract to design the rebuilt St Mary's Church in 1893, he reportedly bought the land opposite, put up a building and capped it with a leering wooden Devil that 'watched' the church. Local legend has it that he muttered, 'I will live to see my Devil laugh over the burning ruins of your church.' Forty-eight years later the Swansea Blitz burned St Mary's to the ground; the Devil survived.

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