17419

 

II*  

Designated  

09/01/1956  

09/12/2005  

Church of St. Bride  

 

Monmouthshire  

Gobion Fawr  

Abergavenny  

Llansantffraid  

335725  

210001  

 

On the eastern boundary of the Community about 200m north of the A40 and approached off the Raglan road up the hotel drive to the north of Aberffrwd Bridge.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

Small church of classic Norman form with much of the fabric original. The building was restored by Prichard and Seddon in 1856-7. The bell-cote predates the restoration but was added at some time between the late Middle Ages and the C18. The porch was added by Prichard and Seddon when they moved the entrance from south to west. Previously there had been a south porch which is shown on a drawing by Sir Richard Hoare at Clytha Castle. Dr. Peters reported evidence of an intermediate west porch but the rebuilt walling on the south wall looks like Prichard and Seddon's work. The building has changed very little since restoration but it was repaired and re-roofed in the 1990s. This is the church of Monmouthshire's smallest parish, only some 290 acres (117 hectares).  

The church is built of local red sandstone rubble with the Victorian work showing up as more random in character; only the gable copings and the bell-cote are ashlar. The church roof is stone slates, the nave and porch were re-roofed with artificial stone slates in the 1990s. Small nave with west bell-cote, chancel, west porch. The west gable wall of the nave shows a sharp batter to both side and also that the south-west corner is a Victorian rebuild. The porch has a very sharply pointed gable but a much less sharply pointed entrance arch with hollow chamfer and stopped hoodmould, coped gable. The bell-cote is in ashlar and has two arched openings and a gabled top with apex cross. The south wall has a trefoil headed lancet in the rebuilt wall where the south porch was and a 3-light one to the right. The north wall has two 2-light trefoil headed windows; this wall was blind before the Victorian restoration. Coped gables, apex cross to east one. The chancel has a south window and an east window only; both are 2-light, square-headed, Perpendicular ones with cinquefoil heads. Coped gable with apex cross.  

The interior is plastered and painted throughout. The nave roof is of close set couples with collars, the chancel has a wagon roof, and both are Victorian as is the plain chancel arch. The chancel screen was made up in 1931 using some relics of the medieval one. C12 Norman font with ropemould decoration. Reredos with two fine C15 alabaster panels, Victorian benches, C18 pulpit. Three very unusual and well preserved C17 monuments with naïve lettering commemorating the local Jones family., especially the large and detailed description dated 1624 and the undated one 'THEE THERE IS NONVPONENA CVMPARISED VNTO THEE CRISHT ALON IS MY REDIMER'.  

Included and highly graded for its special interest as a medieval church sensitively restored by Prichard and Seddon, which has several good features.