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

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