Glyn Simon

Who was Glyn Simon?

William Glyn Hughes Simon was the Anglican Archbishop of Wales from 1968 to 1971.

Simon was born in Swansea, where his father was curate at St Gabriel's church. He was baptised by David Lewis Prosser, later to become the third Archbishop of Wales.

Educated at Christ College, Brecon from 1913, Simon went to Jesus College, Oxford in 1922, where he studied Greats. He trained for the priesthood at St Stephen's House, Oxford and was ordained deacon in Chester Cathedral in 1928, being appointed to the parish of St Paul's, Crewe.

In 1931 he became warden of the Church Hostel at Bangor; the poet R. S. Thomas was a resident student there in 1932.

In 1939 he was appointed warden of St Michael's College, Llandaff and in 1948 became Dean of Llandaff, a position which carries with it the role of vicar of Llandaff, since Llandaff Cathedral doubles as a parish church.

As the Dean of Llandaff, Simon was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the war-damaged nave of the cathedral, commissioning Epstein's Majestas or statue of Christ in Majesty.

Becoming Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in 1953, Simon developed a sympathy for the Welsh language and for the architecture of the Welsh countryside. Translated to Llandaff in 1957, he represented a moderate form of Anglo-Catholicism, notably proceeding to the appointment of women deacons. Amongst other initiatives he created an industrial chaplaincy at the Port Talbot steelworks.