St Michael & all Angels Llanfihangel Brynpabuan

Before I start this blog I need to apologise for the fact that last week Posted a blog on a church I had written about just before Christmas, call it a senior moment but I think I just forgot I had already written about it.
This week we travel back to Newbridge on Wye and take the road to Beulah where there are two churches and a chapel I spotted on the way to the second church. The fist church is  St Michael & All Angels Llanfihangel Brynpabuan. History on some of these churches is hard to find but the Benefice website has a little and if you go in the church you will find some one has written a couple of A4 sheets about the history of the church.
"Restored in 1861, parts of the church date from the 13th or 16th century including arch braced roofs in both the porch and church. There is a small, low level window on the south wall, possibly a lepers' window"

The church is set back off the road on a corner so easy to miss

Looking from the West end of the church

Along to the East end

and one along to the porch on the South side, You can see the leper window by the headstone to the right

Above East end with a couple of headstones

The North side where you find the churchyard hear is quite wild

Above the porch leading into the church

Inside looking along the aisle, the church is single cell so no chancel

The altar and East window which is plane with not stained glass.
Right the altar and curtain behind it

The Altar cross and candle holders are simple being made of wood

Right a view from near the altar towards the back of the church

In front of the choir stalls you find the pulpit and the organ on either side of the church

Looking down from the pulpit towards the back of the church

and towards the front with the altar

One nice feature was the candle holders on the pulpit

The face above the Holy water Stoup and right the font

Not sure if this is a memorial because of the difference in dates

The church banner and some of the kneelers by the altar rails

This was a couple of photos I took from the pulpit and stitched together, you can see what is though to be a lepers window to the lower right behind the choir stall

Outside around on the North side in the corner where the vestry is attached is this bell .

Left Part of the churchyard near the porch

The West end of the churchyard

No have not gone into a field these sheep were in the churchyard on the North side
Left another view of the west end

Again West end towards the entrance gate

Above along on the south side of the church a row of tombs no doubt the same family


Left a couple of more recent burials near some older ones

Another recent one with older headstones and tomb

This is the East end of the churchyard and is going back to being wild with ferns growing in parts

The tow headstones on the East end

Couple of crosses, one has a foot stone the other moss growing on it

The moss covered family tombs shown earlier

A double tomb which is partly readable  but covered in yew needles

I'll end here looking at the two chest tombs before I go out the gate and on to the next church.

Till next time I wish you all a pleasant weekend

St Afan Llanfechan

I noticed this church a while ago when were were driving past, you could easily miss it as the church sits back isolated off the main road beside the old road that used to run past it. The only dwelling nearby is a farm. Surprisingly I found some history on Wikipedia

" The present church dates to a refurbishment in 1866. The church is of typical medieval size and plan and this probably reflects the footprint of its predecessor. The 14th century font inside the church presumably comes from this earlier building. The church stands on an unnatural mound, assumed to be the debris of the earlier church, and within a raised churchyard about 45m across.
It was probably attached originally to the church at Llanafan Fawr ('Llanafan the Greater'), records of both churches during the 18th and 19th centuries show that curates from Llanafan Fawr also served Llanfechan. It was attached to the church at Llanganten by the early 20th century.
St Afan was a 5th or 6th century Welsh bishop, who was usually known as Afan Buallt, indicating a connection with the Buallt area. It is not known where or when he was a bishop, but the name by which he was referred suggests his diocese was around Builth in Brycheiniog with his seat at Llanafan Fawr."

This is the view of the church from over the wall.
Going through the gate leads you to see a closer view

Walking around to the West end and the single bell then towards the North side

Finally around to the East end then South side

Where you come to the entrance porch

Inside you find a single cell church with a step up leading to the altar

on which you find a single candle with a lot of bad droppings around it and try as I might I could not see any above me, mind you it was dark looking up.
Tuning around you get a good view of the choir stalls and nave

There is a single organ that looks well used

and a nice jug containing plastic flowers on it

Above the font with cover and the pulpit. you get a nice view of the altar from it

And another of the nave, before leaving we turn around and get a good view from the doorway

Outside wandering around you find a lot of old interesting headstones

Above a couple of fenced monuments one almost hidden under a yew.


Chest tombs

Old headstones

Stone tombs seem to be more common in this churchyard

Some of the graves have both head & footstones

and some headstones look more recent than others

This cross must have become unsafe and has been lent over onto it's base

A more modern headstone with a showjumping engraving on the top, not seen one like this before

The East end of the churchyard and the older graves

I will leave you this week with a view from the South West across the more modern headstones.

Wishing you all a peaceful weekend till next time