9411

 

II  

Designated  

30/11/1966  

28/11/2003  

Church of St Ishmael  

 

Carmarthenshire  

St. Ishmael  

 

St Ishmael  

236219  

208401  

 

An isolated church approximately 2km SSW of Ferryside, in a large churchyard on the E side of the Ferryside to Kidwelly road.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

A medieval church, first mentioned in 1115. The earliest part is the nave and chancel, followed by the S transept. The N aisle is also medieval, while the S porch and tower may be early C16 or post Reformation. The church was restored in 1859-60 by R.K. Penson, architect of Swansea, when the windows were replaced and the present roofs and internal fittings were inserted. At this time the S transept was converted to a vestry.  

A medieval church restored in C19 Gothic style. It has a complex plan comprising nave and chancel under a single roof, N aisle with chapel, S transept and S porch with tower above. Walls are rubble stone with freestone dressings, roofs are concrete tiles behind coped gables. Windows have geometric or simple Gothic tracery. The nave, battered at the base, has battered angle buttresses to the W end, and a 2-light window. In the S wall is another 2-light window next to the tower, the wall of which obscures part of the relieving arch over the window. The 2-stage tower has a saddleback roof. A pointed S doorway has double wooden gates. Above it is a slate sundial with gnomon, dated 1725 with the initials HI and IB, churchwardens. Also above the doorway are tall narrow windows in the W, S and E walls. The bell stage has similar narrow openings, while in the W wall a pointed opening, dressings for which suggest that it was or was intended to be a window arch, was inserted into the gable in 1859. The transept is also slightly battered at the base. It has a segmental-headed recess in the W wall. The S wall has a 3-light window under a dripstone, to the L of which is a slate memorial tablet to Richard Bonnell (d 1776) and family. In the E wall is a projecting, tall stone stack, dating from its conversion to a vestry in 1859. The chancel has 2-light S window and 3-light E window. Set slightly back, the N aisle has a 2-light E window, and four 2-light N windows. A blocked segmental-headed opening to the centre-R of the aisle was probably a former N doorway. The W wall has a 2-light window.  

The porch has a segmental tunnel vault. The S doorway, rebuilt in 1859, is reached up steps and has a continuous chamfer and boarded door with strap hinges. To its R is a small corbelled stoup. Nave and chancel have a pointed arched-brace roof of 4+2 bays. The 3-bay N nave arcade has plastered pointed arches. A similar but wider arch is to the S transept, which also has a squint, and from chancel to N chapel. The N aisle and chapel have a similar arched-brace roof to the nave and chancel, while the transept has a roof of closely-spaced scissor braces, and has been converted to a vestry with fireplace in the N wall. Seven-bay wooden screens, each with boarded dado and cusped lights, separate nave from chancel, and aisle from chapel. A panelled screen is between nave and vestry. In the chapel the altar has been removed and C18 and C19 grave slabs have been set up around the E and N walls. In the chancel is an ornate tiled reredos with stone bench around the sanctuary walls. The square Norman style font has a scalloped underside, squat round stem and square base, apparently reproducing an earlier font in the church. Plain panelled pews and pulpit are of 1860. The communion rail has cusped arches infilled with iron bars. The chief monument is a wall tablet in the N wall of the chancel commemorating Catherine Mansel (d 1631). In classical style and comprising a slate inscription panel in freestone surround of double Ionic pilasters, entablature, and achievement with coat of arms. In the N wall of the aisle is a monument erected c1809, by D Mainwaring of Carmarthen, to Thomas Humphries and family. An alabaster panel is surmounted by a partly broken urn, on a lozenge-shape slate background. Further L, a simple wooden tablet commemorates Private D Davies (d 1917). Several windows have stained glass. The E window shows Christ flanked by angels, with the Mansel family monogram in the tracery lights. In the N aisle, beginning at the W end, is Christ as the Good Shepherd, by Charles Gibbs senior of London, after 1864, and the Good Samaritan, c1869. In the chapel E window is coloured glass with 1844 in the tracery light.  

Listed for its architectural interest as a medieval church well restored in the C19, with good interior detail.