Saturday 29 November 2014

St Michael, Cefnllys



I came across this church while looking at a map of Llandidrod Wells, it was off the beaten track so to speak and looked to be in the middle of know where as there seemed to be no houses nearby. I checked it out on Geograph to see if any one had good a photo of the church and was pleased to see there was and as I suspected it was sat isolated on the side of a hill quite away from the nearest road.
One Saturday I ventured out to visit the church which dates back to the 13th century but was extensively restored in the 19th century after the vicar of Llandidrod Wells had the roof removed to try to encourage the  parishioners to attend the new church that had been built in town. It was unsuccessful and the church was restored in 1895.


Remember I said it was isolated, well you can just make the church out to the left

St Michael s Church from the south side of the churchyard




Going round the north side 






The north wall the nave

















The bell tower and porch









 
 



 which has to large tomb slabs attached to the wall









On going inside you see the church has seats and a rood screen. This was the natural light available to me and the photo was taken using a gorillapod as I had left my usual one at home. The pod was not much use in here so the rest of the photos were taken handheld with flash so sorry for the quality




This is using the gorillapod on the floor











This one is taken useing the flash on my camera
The rood screen which I could not say how old it is but there is a photo of the church with no roof showing the screen in place
Pulpit which stands on a stone plinth and looks very nicely carved



The altar and rails
Closer shot of the altar
Looking over to the left an one of the windows




Floor level shot of one of the small choir pews






 At the back of the nave is the font with a couple of memorials on the wall









The church organ which is small and hides a few memorials like the one below










The roof is in good condition and all the seats have beautifully covered kneelers










The oak rood cross was made and presented by S Edwards Temple Bazaar in December 1985, it was made from the wood taken from the old church






Some of the old photos of the church can be see at the back near the entrance. While this window is one of the few with stained glass










The north wall has this mural of the nativity 





and I really liked this lectern decoration






















In the porch you can see other churches with the same name and the trail you can follow, don't worry I will be visiting them in due course


Back in the churchyard there are many old graves





Some are tombs under a yew tree which have become covered in green algie













You can see others with a covering of lichen but considering the position the churchyard is well kept and not overgrown like some

I think this will be the last church from Wales for a while. Hope you have a wonderfull weekend

Saturday 22 November 2014

St David's Rhulen


This is the last of the three parish churches called St David that I visited and are in the same area. The church still holds to the outline of the original Norman church and looks to have changed little.





Though the gate and you find a path leading down to the porch




Going over to the far side of the churchyard and we look down to the porch






Heading to the east end you can see there is no window but a memorial sits on the wall to one side
 I read somewhere that the church was extended right up to a yew tree which was not cut down.





Going round the north side and you can see a line in the wall which marks the extension
Back to the south and a view of the church which has a serious lack of windows





The porch where you can see the entrance door




Inside and we see one of the simplest churches I have seen yet
 The altar sits in a recess







Covered in one of the nicest altar cloths I have seen yet





I think the embroidery is quite beautiful





The lecturn and altar













Looking back from the altar to the back of the church













Looking round the church you can see meorials on the wall and the Roll of Honour which alway smakes sad reading










These two memorials sit beside each other  on the noth wall they belong to the Probert Family from the 1750's







 

This one sits on one side of the altar and belongs to the Williams Family from as you can see 1753











The font is very old as well and topped with an oak cover





There are only two windows in the church so I used the lighis in the church for the photos. This is the South Window






But I really like the north  one








 The bible was open on the lecturn for all to read




and like many other churches they had a beautiful flowers brihtening the church up buy the altar





and in the window

I'm sure these are hops but could be wrong




I di dlike the vase here which was on top if the font




Near the door is a little piece about the church

Befor we go outsid ethis is what the church looked like with natural light