The church of St German of Auxerre is located on the corner of Star Street and Metal Street with entrance facing west. It was built in 1881-1884 to designs of by G.F.Bodley (1827-1907) and T Garner (1839-1900), architects, replacing the earlier iron church (NPRN 420649), on a site donated by Lord Tredegar. It is regarded as amongst the finest nineteenth century religious buildings in Wales, an extremely refined and elegant church which introduced late Victorian Gothic to South Wales, by an important and influential architect.
The church is built in Free Decorated style, of pink-grey rock-faced Swelldon stone with bathstone dressings, with slate roofs. It comprises five-bay nave without clerestorey but tall aisles, three-bay chancel with flying buttresses over north and south chapels, polygonal stair turret to north-west, single-storey vestry to east, tall octagonal fleche with steep slate roof and cusped belcote windows.
The interior is elegant and spacious, a hall church with tall nave and five-bay aisle arcades, boarded wagon roofs with stencilling, the chancel roof having stone transverse arches on wall shafts. The reredos dates to 1921-2 (by Hare), in late-medieval Netherlands style with gilded figures of saints; memorial shutters were added in 1926-7. Fittings include an octagonal wooden pulpit, and a painted and gilded organ case with panelled balcony.
Source: extracts from Cadw Listing database.

David Leighton, RCAHMW, 2 December 2014