9414

 

II  

Designated  

30/11/1966  

28/11/2003  

Church of All Saints  

 

Carmarthenshire  

St. Ishmael  

 

Llansaint  

238459  

208050  

 

In a walled churchyard in the centre of the village.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

Discovery of 2 early Christian stones with Latin inscriptions is evidence of early use of the site. The church is first mentioned in 1115 but only the C16 tower is medieval. The church owes its present character mainly to a restoration of 1862, when a vestry and N transept were added.  

A medieval church with mainly simple C19 Gothic detailing, comprising nave with narrower chancel under a single roof, N transept, S vestry and W tower. The nave has 2 pairs of pointed windows in the S wall, L of which is a blocked former segmental-headed doorway. Between the windows is a fragment of Early Christian memorial stone. The lower vestry has a pointed S window below a corbelled stack, and with ashlar upper part, with outshut generator house (added in 1928) to the W side. The chancel has a single pointed S window, 3-light E window but without tracery above the main lights. On the N side is a vertical joint and brick haunches of a former arched opening. The lower N transept has 2 pointed windows under a single relieving arch. The nave has only a single pointed N window. The main entrance to the church is through the 3-stage W tower, which is battered at the base and has larger quoins in the lower stage. The lower stage has a pointed W doorway with continuous chamfer and double boarded doors with strap hinges. On the S side is a lintelled opening to a stair, set at high level. Above this level are narrow W and S openings, and a similar but higher opening in the N face. The simple belfry openings have louvres. The embattled parapet is on a corbel table.  

The church is entered through the tower, which has a pointed tunnel vault typical of the region. Double boarded doors with strap hinges lead into the nave, which has a 4-bay arched-brace roof of 1862. The simple double chamfered chancel arch dies into the imposts. The N transept has a similar arch. The chancel roof has closely spaced scissor braces. A recess is in the chancel S wall, of uncertain date and purpose, and the pointed vestry doorway has a boarded door and strap hinges. Decorative tiles in the sanctuary were laid in 1934. The octagonal font has a stem of 4 clustered shafts, and sunk quatrefoils to alternate facets around the bowl. Plain panelled pews and octagonal pulpit. Flanking the E window are painted metal panels with the 10 Commandments. Glass in the E window, dated 1862, depicts the Crucifixion, Baptism and Last Supper, possibly by Charles Gibbs of London, who produced the decorative stained glass in the N transept window. The nave N window has a meditation on the theme of Resurrection depicted through the life of a butterfly, dated 1988 by Nikki Thorpe.  

Listed as a prominently-sited church, with medieval tower, in the centre of the village.