Llanlleonfel Church

 

Finding this church could be a little hard as it is easy to miss and there is no sign telling you where it is. The church is not far from Garth and when you find it you are treated to an amazing view of the surrounding countryside. There is not much history to this church on Wikipedia but I did find this on the CPAT website

"Possibly this is an early medieval foundation though the evidence is far from conclusive.It does not appear in the medieval Taxatios but is recorded as 'Llanlloenvell' in the Episcopal Register for St Davids in 1513.It has been suggested that an earlier church dated from the 16thC and was progressively restored by the Gwynne family from about 1712, being used by them until the end of the 18thC. But Sir Stephen Glynne in 1867 and Francis Kilvert in 1873 both recorded that the church was ruinous, "..a most deplorable object" (Glynne) and "...the only occupants being several white owls" (Kilvert). Glynne did record it as an undivided nave and chancel, a debased wooden screen of three-arched compartments, and a wooden bellcote over the west end, but with "literally no architectural feature deserving the name". The windows were modern with wooden mullions. The porch had been destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1876 by R. J. Withers, with a bell turret over the centre of the church, but this was later moved to the west end"

The south side of the church, it stands in a circular clearing

When you walk in the churchyard the north side is the first part of the church you see

West end with two bells

South west end with the porch

Around to the east end

South east view of the church

Looking towards the west side of the churchyard where a lot of graves are

The graves are not of a great age , most dating back to the 1800's

Selection of monuments and headstones

A chest tomb over near the trees

A lot of the graves now forgotten about

There are some newer family graves

This one I could not tell you how old it was as there is no name on it

Looking over towards the east from the west end of the churchyard

The porch with shut gates

The place is open though and looks very tidy and looked after

Closer to the chancel

The chancel towards the altar

Altar and east windows

Very nicely dressed altar

Looking towards the back of the church

Collage of the three east windows

Over to the south side is this beautiful modern window

It is quite beautiful and must shine when the sun come through

The pulpit

Looking down in the pews

I could not say what this is beside the lectern

There is a faded inscription on it

You can see the inscription 

 

This is what is written on it

The banner is wearing a little

I have come across John Wesley visiting churches before

The church with central spire, I think I read it was moved because the roof would not take the weight. The third bell is at the back of the nave

Kilvert seems to get around everywhere

Painting of the annunciation

Choir stalls

 

The organ looks newer 

View across the altar

The font which looks Victorian

I will leave you with this photo of the bible on the altar with the church in the background.

Till next time I wish you all a wonderful weekend

St Afan Llanafan-Fawr

This was the next church along the road from the one last week and ties up nicely my map of that area, no doubt there will be more to find in the future. When I go back to Wales in a few weeks time I will be heading South to see more churches. I found the history below in Wikipedia
"The Church of Saint Afan has been rebuilt several times. The foot of the church-tower is the only part remaining of earlier construction, the rest being rebuilt in 1886. In the porch on the right-hand wall are several carved stones which date from the 7th to 9th centuries. Inside the church, to the left of the altar, is a single pillar stone incised with a Latin ring cross, dating from the 7th century. To the right is an ancient baptismal font of similar age.
There is a 2,200-year-old yew tree in the churchyard. The churchyard claims Saint Afan's relics and is also the burial place of Thomas Huet, who translated the Book of Revelation into the Welsh language in the 16th century. There is also a double gravestone unique in Britain, the left-hand inscription notes that its occupant was murdered and also bears the name of his murderer: John Price Who Was Murdered On The Darren Hill In This Parish By R Lewis April 21, 1826. Relatives of both murderer and victim still live locally"

The day was threatening rain when I got here and started drizzling when I came back out of the church so you may find some of the shot shave spots on them Above and left the South side of St Afan

Heading around to the East end

The the North side

This view is looking from the South East side of the churchyard which is quite large

The bell tower which I must admit I could not tell you where the older part is. Right a small window with a sundial above and plaque below

It's a commemoration plaque and is dated 1765 so predates the rebuild of 1886 so maybe that part is the original tower

Looking over towards the porch past a few chest tombs

Finally the porch, you might notice my tripod in the entrance as I had finished inside and was taking photos of the churchyard

Here we look up the aisle as the church is single cell though looks quite long

The altar and East Window

Turning around by the altar and looking back through the church to the back

The Altar cross which looks a little wonky

Left the pulpit and right the church organ where you can see the poppy wreaths

The Roll of Honour is on the side of the organ above the poppy wreaths

The nave looking form the pulpit

And some interesting items on the pulpit, the bible is covered in mildew and is quite old

The picture above shows the drawings for a  new rectory it's dated 1889

There are quite a few memorials on the walls

This one shows the lady is buried nearby so maybe in the church, it's dated 1783

More of the memorials

This one is to Elizabeth Reliet who died in 1791 age 61

Thomas Huet which is written in Welsh but has the dates of 1561 & 1591 on it

The memorial to Elizabeth and Thomas Joseph

before we go out a photo of the church font

Took this photo of the churchyard as I came through the gate

And one across to the West

A row of Chest Tombs

More of the churchyard showing another chest tomb and fenced vault

Above I think this is a table tomb, there are a couple of small chest tombs beyond that which have collapsed. Left the area there is overgrown but contains a few graves

An headstone and a pile of stone marking another broken tomb

These maybe miss placed headstones here beside the church

 Further down the churchyard

Here at the far East end of the churchyard you can see more recent burials

I will leave you with this view of St Afan from the far South East of the churchyard. I was quite an interesting church and one I may return to just to find the graves mentioned in the history at the start

Till next time have a wonderful week