History

The church was built in 1863-6 by T. H. Wyatt and replaced an earlier one on the E side of the village, of which only the porch remains. Built at a cost of £3,000, which was regarded as extravagant by some contemporary commentators who felt that the old church should have been repaired.

Exterior

Early English style. Nave, S tower and spire, chancel, vestry and N aisle. Snecked grey masonry with sandstone dressings, under a banded slate roof with red ridge tiles. The church is built on a plinth with a string course at sill level and moulded sandstone eaves; angle buttresses with offsets. The broach spire surmounts a 3-stage tower with a semi-octagonal stair turret in the NE angle. The lowest stage of the tower incorporates the porch which has a pointed-arched entrance with 2 orders of chamfered mouldings below a quatrefoil. Raked hoodmould with foliate end stops. The tower has angle buttresses with offsets and gabled copings. On the W side, there is a plain lancet to the first stage and 2 plain lancets to the second stage. There are louvre openings to the E, S and W faces on the third stage, each containing 2 lancets in plate tracery separated by a colonnette. Above is a perforated crucifix. The third stage has projecting sandstone quoin strips (above the level of the buttresses) and a lombard frieze below the eaves. There is a clock on the S face of the spire. The stair turret has a hipped roof, 2 string courses and flat-topped rectangular lights.

The W end has 2 windows containing paired lancets with a quatrefoil above. Above these windows is a cinquefoiled light in plate tracery.

There are 3 windows to the S side of the nave all in plate tracery of 2 or 3 lights with quatrefoils, cinquefoils or circles above. The chancel has two similar windows of 1 or 2 lights. The E window has 3 cusped stepped lancets in plate tracery with 2 circles above. It is under a hoodmould with foliate end stops. In the apex is a quatrefoil. The N side of the chancel has a single cusped lancet. Further W, the vestry and N aisle project northwards, and the aisle has a lean-to roof. They have simple lancet windows, either single or grouped in twos or threes. There is an ornate projecting doorway into the vestry with a raked coped gable. The opening has a 4-centred arch, sandstone mouldings and ball flower ornament. Above the doorway is an IHS motif. To its E is a square headed doorway to a basement. Both entrances have plain planked doors.

Interior

Ornate polychrome Gothic interior. There is a 4-bay arcade between the nave and N aisle; the arches rise from polished red granite columns on heavy pale grey bases with chamfered tops, and ringed capitals. The arches have pointed tops, chamfered mouldings and are constructed of alternate blocks of red and pale grey stone. There is an angel carved in red stone at each end of the arcade. The main lines of the nave roof structure echoes the rhythm of the arcade; the trusses rise alternately from the crowns and spandrels of the arches. On the S side of the nave, the trusses rise from between and above the windows in the same way. The trusses are supported on stone corbels and consist of arched braces and collar beams, with small open trefoils at the shoulders. Corbels on the N side of the arcade support vertical and raking posts, the lean-to roof structure of the N aisle.

The chancel arch is also polychrome and has a pointed head. The soffit is in red stone with chamfered sides. Above is pale grey stone with 2 orders of chamfered mouldings, and ball flower ornament between the two. The red hoodmould has foliate end stops. The chancel arch is supported on narrow columns with ornate foliate capitals. Steps lead up to the chancel and the altar and have biblical inscriptions on their vertical faces. There are also inscriptions from Exodus to the sides of the chancel arch, facing the congregation. The chancel roof is vaulted and has square moulded panels with a foliate boss at each corner, infilled with plaster. The wall plates are decorated, the motifs including quatrefoils and circles. The floor is of multi-coloured Maws tiles. There is a highly ornate reredos comprising cusped arched recesses, alternatively in red and pale grey stone with foliate decoration. The organ occupies a purposely-built recess on the N side, entered through a pointed arch with foliate capitals and a crocketed hoodmould. Red and black quarry tiles to nave floor. Late C19 to early C20 pews. Polychrome font; large bowl on foliate capitals, red column on sandstone base. Semi-hexagonal pale grey stone pulpit with black marble columns to the angles. There is a recessed quatrefoil in each face with white marble foliate decoration on a red stone background. There is a stoup in the NE corner of the nave with a date of 1802 engraved on the base; 4 columns support a small ringed bowl. The chancel windows contain stained glass, the E window with a crucifixion scene. A stained glass window in the nave is dedicated to Gertrude Foulkes, d. 1876, aged 12. There are stone memorials to Isaac and John Pugh, d. 1778 and 1784, aged 12 and 15 respectively. Below is a marble monument to Charles Jones of Fronfraith, d. 1809. A small plaque by the door is in memory of Richard Edward Jones of Cefn Bryntalch, d. 1917, and elsewhere is a memorial to L.O.W. Jones of Cefn Bryntalch, d. 1918.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a good example of a Gothic Revival church, consistently designed and including unusually rich interior detail.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29496013

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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