WELL respected cleric Rev'd Canon Jeremy Winston, is to leave Abergavenny to take up a new role as the Dean of Newport Cathedral Currently Vicar of St Mary's Priory Church in Abergavenny, he will be installed in the cathedral on Saturday, September 10.

 Announcing the appointment, the Bishop of Monmouth, Rt Rev'd Dominic Walker said: "Canon Jeremy Winston is a senior and experienced priest who will bring many gifts in serving as Dean of Newport Cathedral. He is aware of the need for the church to reach out into the community it serves and of the need to preserve the building for future generations. I know that he will work tirelessly to strengthen the Cathedral as the Mother Church of the diocese and to make it a place of prayer and welcome."

  Canon Winston, who has been at Abergavenny for 18 years, said "I very much look forward to belonging to a community of Christian people at Newport Cathedral, serving at the heart of the city and as the focus of the Diocese of Monmouth. I hope we shall be able to build on the efforts of our predecessors in developing the witness of the Cathedral, in caring for the wider community, and as a place of welcome for all.

 "I am well aware of the challenges facing both the city and diocese – challenges which will require a great deal of prayer and the rolling up of sleeves. "Leaving the Abergavenny parishes after eighteen years is bound to prove difficult – we have worked together extremely well and seen so many great achievements. It has been a unique privilege to serve in one of the most wonderful communities in Wales. I believe that the next Vicar will be richly blessed by the people there."

 Canon Winston's appointment follows the resignation of the present Dean, the Very Rev'd Dr Richard David Fenwick, who is to be consecrated as Bishop of the Diocese of St Helena (in the South Atlantic) on 7th May 2011.

 Born into an old Monmouthshire family in 1954, Canon Winston grew up in Griffithstown. He trained as a teacher at Trinity College, Camarthen. He then went to theological college at St Stephen's House, Oxford, and was ordained in 1979. He served as curate in Basseleg before becoming Vicar of St Arvan's in 1983. In 1993 he moved to become Vicar of St Mary's, Abergavenny, and in 2002 took on the wider responsibility of Area Dean for all the parishes in the Abergavenny area.

 Under Canon Winston's leadership, the church has developed close links with the town of Abergavenny and its wider community. St Mary's church building has undergone major restoration including the development of the Priory Centre and the neighbouring Tithe Barn.

 From 1979-1989 Canon Winston was the Diocesan Children's Adviser and, until 2007, was a Bishop's Visitor to church schools in the diocese. He was installed as a Canon of the Cathedral in 2002 and has been a member of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales since 1982.

 Newport's Cathedral of St Woolos stands on Stow Hill, where there has been a church building  since St Gwynllyw built his cell in the 470s. The present building has its origins in Saxon times and work has just begun to restore the medieval roof, the first phase of a multi-million pound restoration project.