St Peter's Church
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St Peter’s Church Llanwenarth Citra St Peter’s Church has been the Welcome to St Peter’s Church, centre of this widespread rural Early history community for over 600 years and Llanwenarth Citra continues to hold services every The early origins of the site of the Church are generally considered to be Celtic from around Sunday. Situated on the eastern Croeso i Eglwys Sant Pedr, the 7th century. The Llan prefix denotes an enclosure containing the cell of a Celtic saint. JA edge of the Brecon Beacons Bradney in his History of Monmouthshire, suggested that the name Llanwenarth was derived National Park on the old road from Llanwenarth from Llan Gwen Garth – the Blessed Enclosure.1 London to West Wales and close to 2 the market town of Abergavenny, The earliest record of its existence dates to 1254 in a document known as the Norwich Valuation. this church has been the focus for At this time, the church was dedicated to “Waynardo” – possibly the name of a Celtic saint. generations of local people, but This, together with the nearly circular outline of the churchyard and the ancient yew tree, 3 above all it is a sacred place where which is older than the present church, supports the legend of a 7th century church or cell. people come to find peace. There is also some evidence from an 18th century account that the church was dedicated to Gwen the daughter of Arth, son of Brychan – the legendary founder and king of Brycheiniog. This is a brief guide to its history and its place in the heritage of this Although perhaps not entirely historically reliable, this is an interesting piece of local folklore! area. The church at Talgarth in Brecknock was also dedicated to Gwen. The Normans often used existing Celtic religious sites for building churches. At Llanwenarth, they were probably responsible for the dedication of St. Peter. Mae Eglwys Sant Pedr wedi bod wrth wraidd y gymuned wasgaredig In the Middle Ages parishes were very large in size, and the upland area of Aberystruth [which wledig hon ers dros 600 mlynedd includes the modern communities of Nantyglo, Blaina and Abertillery] was included in the a chynhelir gwasanaethau yma parish of Llanwenarth. The earliest record of St Peter’s Aberystruth, which was in Blaina, bob dydd Sul hyd heddiw. Wedi’i dates to 1535, when it is recorded that it was formerly a chapelry of Llanwenarth, ministered lleoli ar ymyl dwyreiniol Parc by curates who were in the gift of Llanwenarth. In 1827, when St Peter’s Aberystruth was re- Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog built, Aberystruth became a separate parish. ar yr hen ffordd o Lundain i Orllewin Cymru, nid nepell o dref farchnad y Fenni, mae’r eglwys hon wedi bod yn ganolbwynt i genedlaethau o bobl leol, ond yn anad dim mae’n lle sanctaidd ac mae pobl yn dod yma i ddarganfod heddwch. Dyma ganllaw cryno i hanes yr eglwys a’i lle yn nhreftadaeth yr ardal hon. 2 3 35 18 e ir h s h t u o m n o The parish of Llanwenarth then became the area covered by the present parish of Llanwenarth M f Ultra [the other side of the river] or Govilon and Llanwenarth Citra with the river Usk o p running between them. They were linked by a bridge. The will of Dan Morgan in 1620 left a 1,12 M 10 shillings for its repair. However, it was washed away and replaced by a chain ferry. In 2003, the stone base of this bridge became uncovered by undercutting of the river following winter floods. It can still be seen, at the time of writing, in a similar position to the old ferry. A chapel of ease was built at Govilon in 1848. This was enlarged into the present parish church in 1865 when the two parishes separated. Today the parish of Llanwenarth Citra covers an area of 2,800 acres, encompassing the rich farmland of the river meadows, the mixed woodland and pasture of the lower slopes of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, and its moorland summit. The southern border is the River Usk. The early church was in the benefice of the Priory Church in Abergavenny. Part of the tithes were paid to the Priory, and these were transferred to the King Henry VIII school on the Dissolution. The lane on which the church stands was once the main Current Parish road to west Wales as shown Boundary The chain ferry was a wooden boat on this map of 1787, which carrying six passengers. Pulled across is the first toll road map. Tolls by rope from the Govilon side, the were introduced not only to church paid an annual fee of £3.00 pay for the building of the roads, but also to give George for its upkeep. This ferry formed an III an income after his heavy important link, not just for the church losses in America. but also as a short cut for people to reach Abergavenny. By 1955 the ferry By 1835, the main road had been moved to its present had closed. position, north of the church. It is likely that shortly after this the nearby pub, the Three Cranes, closed. There are the remains of the walls on the left of the lane a few fields to the west of the church. Map of Monmouthshire 1787 4 5 The Tower At the west end of the nave is a square tower in three stages. At the base is the vestry, above this is the ringing chamber and at the top the bells. There are two bells dated 1495 and 1661. 5 In the outer wall at the top of the tower a date of 1631 is carved into the cement. This suggests that some major alteration to the tower took place at this time. The wall at the top of the wide stone steps leading from the vestry is made of lath and plaster, and at the base of it can be seen the remains of a wooden step. This was the most likely entrance to the gallery, which was extant in1879.4 It is not known when it was removed. There is a blocked window of 12th century type in the west wall of the nave, confirming that the upper part of the tower is later than the nave. 6 This leaves the lower part of the tower which together with the extreme west end of the north wall of the nave probably represents Gates at St Peter’s the earliest part of the church. The pointed lancet in the ground floor west wall of the tower dates to the 13th century but the rest probably dates to the 14th or 15th century. 6 Restoration work was carried out to the tower in 1909, and again in 1939 - 40.7 Note the unusual stonework of the arch into the vestry/belltower. This provides us The church is a Grade II* listed building, built of stone with a stone tiled with good evidence of the much earlier roof. It consists of a nave, a separate chancel, square tower and south porch. construction that somehow escaped the It lies in the flood plain of the Usk, and the approaches are often flooded ‘improvements’ carried out in the 19th in the winter months. Occasionally the water reaches the church itself, the century. The stonework at the base of this last time being in 1979 when extensive damage was done. arch is considered to be even older. The building is a mixture of styles, and although the oldest part is 13th century, there have been several phases of development over the centuries. The most recent was in 1877. 6 7 Hoodmould Heads The Victorian restoration of 1877 was also responsible for the rebuilding of the chancel arch and the south wall of the nave with two large windows. The stops to the hoodmoulds are of a different sandstone and mostly more weathered than the rest of the work. But they do not appear to be particularly medieval, having handlebar Small window in the moustaches and no beards. More in the wall of the porch. fashion of the late 19th century. Dole Cupboard Also in the church is a dole cupboard of considerable age and rarity. After the Dissolution in the 1540’s, the monasteries were no longer available to feed the poor. Consequently benefactors provided a dole of bread for the needy, provided that they In the early 14th century, there seem to have been two phases of restoration attended the church service, and a dole – one dating to about 1300 and the other to a little later, perhaps around cupboard was provided in which to store 1330. The chancel and north wall of the nave were rebuilt around 1300. The the bread. ogival-headed priest’s doorway, three chancel windows with reticulated “net- like” tracery and one nave window are of about 1330. A dole cupboard is distinguished from an aumbry, or ambury, which was used to The gabled porch on the south wall has a 14th century 2-order arch of dressed keep the sacraments, by having ventilation sandstone with 19th century iron gates with a tiny splayed window opening to holes in the door. The cupboard in St the east side. There is bench seating within and a wagon roof, panelled with Peter’s does have perforations in the door, roll moulded timber. There is no west door to the church.8 but they are very small and provide little ventilation. The wood is of a wainscot There are also narrow blocks of red sandstone used in the construction of form and the strengthening bars at the the upper stages of the tower and the insertion of a new window in the north back seem to have come from some other side of its ground floor.