Church Heritage Cymru

Church Heritage Cymru 2227

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St Curig, Llangurig

Name:

The name or dedication of the church.

St Curig, Llangurig
Record Type:

This identifies the church type. Most churches are parish churches which means they serve a specific parish or area. Other types such as chapel, daughter and mission are mostly historic designations as many are now also parish churches. Please note that former churches are no longer used for worhsip and may be in private ownership.

Parish Church
Church code:

A unique identification number given to every church.

2227
Diocese:

The name of the diocese in which the church is located.

Bangor
Archdeaconry:

The name of the archdeaconry in which the church is located.

Meirionnydd
Parish:

This is the legal name of the parish as given by the Church Commissioners.

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Statutory Designation Information

Listed Building?

There are 3 levels of listing: Grade I, II* & II. The majority of buildings which are of special interest are Grade II. A much smaller number of particularly important buildings are listed as Grade II*. Buildings of exceptional interest (approx 2% of the total number of listed buildings) are Grade I.

This is a Grade II* Listed Building
Scheduled Monument?

Ancient monuments and archaeological remains of national importance are protected by law. Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service is responsible for compiling a schedule (list) of these ancient monuments, some of which can be found in churches and churchyards. Examples can include churchyard crosses and the archaeological remains of previous churches or buildings on the site.

There is no Scheduled Monument within the curtilage or precinct

National Park

There are three National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacons. These protect 20 percent of the land in Wales, including precious landscapes, habitats, villages and heritage sites. 

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Conservation Area

There are over 500 conservation areas in Wales. They are designated by local planning authorities for their special architectural and historic interest.

The church is in a Conservation Area

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Buildings At Risk Status

On Buildings At Risk Register?

The Buildings at Risk register is managed by Cadw (the Welsh Government’s historic environment service) in order to identify the number and type of listed buildings at risk in Wales. 

This church is not on the Buildings at Risk Register
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Approximate Date

Approximate Date:

It is often extremely difficult to determine a precise date of construction for a church as many have been extensively altered over time. Church Heritage Cymru therefore shows a date range within which a church is believed to have been constructed. The dates are as follows: Early Medieval (pre 1066), Medieval (post 1066 to 1540), Post Medieval (1540 to 1837), Victorian/Pre WWI (1837 to 1914) and Modern (post 1914).

Victorian/Pre-WWI

Exterior Image

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Summary Description

This is a very brief summary of the church's main features. More  detailed nformation can be found in the other fields and pages (tabs) in this database.

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Visiting and Facilities

Useful information is displayed here for people wishing to visit the church. This may include things like opening hours, catering & toilet facilities, parking, etc. 

The church is open for worship.
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Church Website

Church Website:

If the church has its own website the details will be displayed here.

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Sources and Further Information

Any further sources of information for the church will be listed here (eg. links to other historic databases).

View information on worship and access at this church on the Church In Wales web site
RCAHMW (2004) Coflein http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301591/details/ [Digital Archive/Document]
http://www.coflein.gov.uk/
CPAT (2016) Historic Environment Record http://www.cofiadurcahcymru.org.uk/arch/query/page.php?prn=CPAT7536 [Digital Archive/Document]
CPAT (2016) Welsh Historic Churches Survey http://www.cpat.demon.co.uk\projects\longer\churches\montgom\16873.htm [Digital Archive/Document]
http://www.cpat.demon.co.uk/projects/longer/churches/idxall.htm
TA (2017) Ground plan of church [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
Ground plan of church

This is the Ordnance Survey (OS) reference for the location of the church. Some locations will be approximate as this data is continuously being refined and updated.

Grid Reference: SN 907 799

To zoom into an area hold the SHIFT key down then click and drag a rectangle.

Church address

Address
Missing help text - to be added by an administrator
St Curig Llangurig LLANIDLOES SY18 6EX

Administrative Area

Unitary Authority:

This is the name of the Local Authoirity within which the church is located.

Powys - Powys

Location and Setting

This describes how the church relates to its immediate and wider environment, sometimes called its setting. It describes how the church contributes to its landscape or townscape and how these things collectively contribute to the character of the area.

Llangurig lies in the southern end of Montgomeryshire at the divergence of the A470 and the A44 some 40km east of Aberystwyth, 6km southwest of Llanidloes and 15 km north northwest of Rhayader. It sits beside one of the few roads through the Cambrian Mountains with a backdrop to the village of high hills while to the south the flat plain of the upper reaches of the river Wye are to be found.

References

Route Planner  Directions, traffic and maps  AA

Church Plan

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Ground Plan Description and Dimensions

Ground Plan

This is a description of the ground plan of the church.

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Dimensions

If known, the dimensions (measurements) of the church ground plan will be displayed here.

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Footprint of Church buildings (m2):

If the footrprint (area) of the church is known, it will be displayed here.

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Description of Archaeology and History

A description of the history and archaeology of the church and its site.

Llangurig is dedicated to St Curig who died in AD 550 and who was Bishop of Llanbadarn Fawr.  The link with Curig can be only guessed at but to the west lies Eisteddfa Gurig (seat of Curig).  Certainly it was a clas settlement, one of four in Montgomeryshire, the others being Llandinam, Meifod and Llanrhaeader. From about 1280 the church was dependent on the Cistercian House of Strata Florida. In about 1780 the north wall was rebuilt following a collapse but not on its original foundations but such as to make the church narrower. In 1834 the beautiful C15 Rood screen was removed, happily in 1828 the Revd John Parker had made a detailed drawing of it, and in 1834 the church was reseated.

The church was rebuilt/restored in 1887 by Sir George Gilbert Scott and Arthur Baker at the expense of Chevalier Y C Lloyd of Clochfaen at a cost of £11,000.  (Lloyd had reverted to Anglicanism and his house was 1km to the south although the present Clochfaen is an 1914-15 extension to his house).  Much of the money went on the restoration of the roof to a design based on medieval fragment found in the tower. A screen was made in 1888 using the drawings of John Parker as a guide.  Of the original screen only a piece of the foliage trail was reused.  Other pieces of the finely carved traceried panels were dispersed (five ending up in Glansevern in Berriew.)

The low spire was clad in copper in 1885.

References

Cadw Listings Notice

Buildings of Wales – Powys 2013

CPAT Montgomeryshire Churches Survey

The Rural Landscape of the Welsh Borderland – a Study in Historical Geography Dorothy Sylvester

Exterior Description

A description of the exterior of the church and the main features of the churchyard.

The church has a large western tower, a nave, a narrower chancel with a lower roof line, and a south porch.  The vestry is contained within the space of the chancel at the far east end.  The rocks are irregular blocks of a grey sedimentary stone possibly a mud or siltstone, irregularly coursed.  The roof is of slates with ornamental ceramic ridge tiles, cross finials at the nave and chancel ends and on the porch.  The C19 guttering and downspouts have original cast iron cisterns.

The tower is squat with rough buttresses suggesting that the tower was remodelled rather than rebuilt.  Rising above the tower is a broach spire with a weather vane. Much of the tower is Perpendicular in style.

In the north wall of the nave the windows are all from the Victorian restoration and one window containing three cinquefoil-headed lights had a worn reddish pink sandstone surround.

References

Cadw Listings Notice

Buildings of Wales – Powys 2013

CPAT Montgomeryshire Churches Survey

Architects, Artists and Associated People/Organisations

Information about any noteable architects, artists, people, or events associated with the church.

Who:
Mr Paul Skeet
Role:
Architect/Surveyor ICM55
From:
04 Dec 2023
To:
Contribution:

Building Fabric and Features

Information about any important features and building fabric.

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Building Materials

If known, a list of the church's major building material/s will be displayed here.

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Interior Image

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Interior Description

This section gives a general description of the interior of the church. Further details of any important internal fixtures and fittings will be listed below.

Red and black floor tiles cover the floor of the porch which has plastered walls and a ceiling plastered beneath to arch-braced collar trusses with raking struts and a castellated frieze runs along each wall plate.  Red tiles again form the walkways of the nave although the benches are on timber platforms.  The roof is of three hammer beam trusses springing from stone corbels and supports a wagon roof of 42 panels, those at the west end where they abut the tower are half sized.  Angels protrude off the arched beams, the arch beams are decorated as are the cornices – the whole being Victorian.  In the north nave wall is a plain arcade of three wide, four-centred arches supported on two stone pillars reportedly of a C15 date.  The west wall has three steps up to the tower.

There is a stepped entrance from the nave into the chancel and further steps into the sanctuary.  The floors are encaustic tiles. There is a three-bay hammerbeam roof with arch-braced trusses, heavy rafters and purlins.  Three hammerbeams spring from stone corbels with large carved wooden angels holding shields and supporting three arch-braced collar trusses with cusped raking struts and cusped windbraces.  On the east wall of the chancel is a wooden reredos on a stone plinth.

In the C16 the font was removed but replaced in 1661 and re-sited in the middle of the nave.  Inside the bowl is an inscription indicating who the first person to be baptised was.

There are ten fine examples of Burlison & Grylls stained glass: notably ‘St Michael with the seven Acts of Mercy’, ‘Historical scenes’, ‘St Michael slaying the Red Dragon’, ‘St Elidan & St Maurice’ and ‘St Dunawd with heraldry’.  Other scenes include the life of St Curig, the story of Cyricus and his mother Julitta, princely welsh families and the Lloyd family heraldry.  While the work was carried out by Burlison & Grylls there was much correspondence between Chevalier Lloyd and the firm, indeed Lloyd sketched out the compositions and must be regarded as the chief designer of the windows.  The firm coped well with the Welsh texts.  Scots was concerned that the that the windows were kept as light as possible so as not to darken the chancel.  Over time some have faded due to the use of borax in their manufacture.

In 1700, three new bells were hung and the old ones recast.  The National Bell Register now only records the three new bells which were cast by R Purdue.

References

Cadw Listings Notice

Buildings of Wales – Powys 2013

CPAT Montgomeryshire Churches Survey

A National Bell Register - George Dawson's Website - Homestead

Stained Glass in Wales

Internal Fixtures and Fittings

Information about the church's important internal fixtures and fittings. 

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Portable Furnishings and Artworks

Information about the church's important moveable items and artworks.

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Ecology

A description of the ecology of the churchyard.

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Ecological Designations

Missing help text - to be added by an administrator

The everyday wildlife of burial grounds means much to those who visit and cherish them but many burial grounds are so rich in wildlife that they should be designated and specially protected. Few have the legal protection of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or, in the case of local authority owned cemeteries, Local Nature Reserve. This makes it even more important that they are cared for and protected by the people looking after them.

Many have a non-statutory designation as a recognition of their importance. These non-statutory designations have a variety of names in different regions including Local Wildlife Site, County Wildlife Site, Site of Importance for Nature Conservation or Site of Nature Conservation Importance (Local Wildlife Site is the most common name). Their selection is based on records of the most important, distinctive and threatened species and habitats within a national, regional and local context. This makes them some of our most valuable wildlife areas.

For example, many burial grounds which are designated as Local Wildlife Sites contain species-rich meadow, rich in wildflowers, native grasses and grassland fungi managed by only occasional mowing plus raking. When this is the case, many animals may be present too, insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. This type of grassland was once widespread and has been almost entirely lost from the UK with approximately 3% remaining, so burial grounds with species-rich meadow managed in this way are extremely important for wildlife.

These designations should be considered when planning management or change.

If you think that this or any other burial ground should be designated please contact Caring for God’s Acre (info@cfga.org.uk) to discuss. Many eligible sites have not yet received a designation and can be surveyed and then submitted for consideration.

There are no SSSIs within the curtilage of this Parish Church.

There are no Local nature reserves within the curtilage of this Parish Church.

There are no Local Wildlife sites within the curtilage of this Parish Church.

Evidence of the Presence of Bats

Information about the presence of bats in the church building or churchyard.

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Burial and War Grave Information

Records whether the church has been consecrated.

It is unknown whether the church or churchyard is consecrated. Work in progress - can you help?

Records whether there have been burials in the churchyard.

It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial. Work in progress - can you help?

Records whether the churchyard is still being used for burials.

It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial. Work in progress - can you help?

Records whether there are any war graves in the churchyard.

The churchyard does not have war graves.

National Heritage Designations

Missing help text - to be added by an administrator

There are no Listed Buildings within the curtilage of this Parish Church.

There are no Scheduled Monuments within the curtilage of this Parish Church.

Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees

Missing help text - to be added by an administrator

Churchyards are home to fantastic trees, in particular ancient and veteran trees which can be the oldest indication of a sacred space and be features of extraordinary individuality. The UK holds a globally important population of ancient and veteran yew trees of which three-quarters are found in the churchyards of England and Wales.

There are more than 1,000 ancient and veteran yews aged at least 500 years in these churchyards.

To put this in context, the only other part of western Europe with a known significant yew population is Normandy in northern France, where more than 100 ancient or veteran churchyard yews have been recorded.

Burial grounds may contain veteran and ancient trees of other species such as sweet chestnut or small-leaved lime which, whilst maybe not so old as the yews, are still important for wildlife and may be home to many other species.

Specialist advice is needed when managing these wonderful trees. For more information or to seek advice please contact Caring for God’s Acre, The Ancient Yew Group and The Woodland Trust.

If you know of an ancient or veteran tree in a burial ground that is not listed here please contact Caring for God’s Acre.

There are currently no Ancient, Veteran or Notable trees connected to this Parish Church

Churchyard Structures

Any important churchyard structures will be listed here.

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Collapse Churchyard StructuresChurchyard Structures
LYCH GATE (1740)

Significance

Setting Significance Level:

Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.

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Setting Significance Description:

Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship of the church to its surrounding area and helps place it within its wider landscape context.

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Fabric Significance Level:

Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.

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Fabric Significance Description:

Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the significance of the historic building fabric of the church.

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Interior Significance Level:

Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.

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Interior Significance Description:

Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the historic significance of the interior of the church.

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Community Significance Level:

Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.

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Community Significance Description:

Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship between the church and its community. 

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Church Renewables

Any renewable energy systems the church is using will be listed here.

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Species Summary

Missing help text - to be added by an administrator

All of the species listed below have been recorded in close proximity to the Parish Church . A few species which are particularly threatened and affected by disturbance may not be listed here because their exact location cannot be shared.

NOTE: Be aware that this dataset is growing, and the species totals may change once the National Biodiversity Network has added further records. Species may be present but not recorded and still await discovery.

No species data found for this record

Caring for God’s Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.

To learn more about all of the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.

"Seek Advice" Species

Missing help text - to be added by an administrator

If any of the following species have been seen close to the Parish Church, it is important to seek advice from an expert. You will need to know if they are present now, and to follow expert recommendations when planning works. All of these species have specific legal protection as a recognition of their rarity. All of them are rare or becoming increasingly endangered, so it is important to ensure that management and other works do not adversely affect them. In addition, there may be things you can do to help these special species. N.B. Swift and House Martin do not have specific legal protection but are included, as roof repair works often impact breeding swifts and house martins which is against the law.

This is not a complete list of protected species, there are many more, but these are ones that are more likely to be found. All wild birds, their nests and eggs are also protected by law, as are all bats and veteran trees. In a few cases, species are considered particularly prone to disturbance or destruction by people, so the exact location of where they were recorded is not publicly available but can be requested. These ‘blurred’ records are included here, and the accuracy is to 1km. This means that the species has been recorded in close proximity to the Parish Church, or a maximum of 1km away from it. As these ‘blurred’ species are quite mobile, there is a strong likelihood that they can occur close to the Parish Church. To learn about these special species, use the link provided for each species in the table below

One important species which is not included here is the Peregrine Falcon. This is protected and advice should be sought if peregrines are nesting on a church or cathedral. Peregrine records are ‘blurred’ to 10km, hence the decision not to include records here. Remember too that species not seriously threatened nationally may still be at risk in your region and be sensitive to works. You should check with local experts about this. You may also need to seek advice about invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed and aquatics colonising streams or pools, which can spread in churchyards.

N.B. If a species is not recorded this does not indicate absence. It is always good practice to survey.

No species data found for this record

Caring for God’s Acre can help and support you in looking after the biodiversity present in this special place. If you know that any of these species occur close to the Parish Church and are not recorded here, please contact Caring for God’s Acre with details (info@cfga.org.uk).

To find out more about these and other species recorded against this Parish Church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas.

Refresh
WhoActionWhen
Simon OgdonAdded QI inspectionMon 04 Dec 2023 14:02:25
Simon OgdonCreated asset source linkMon 04 Dec 2023 14:02:24
Simon OgdonDeleted QI inspectionMon 04 Dec 2023 13:56:29
Simon OgdonAdded QI inspectionMon 04 Dec 2023 13:55:03
Simon OgdonCreated asset source linkMon 04 Dec 2023 13:55:02
Simon OgdonModified asset data - Modified the Standard Information (Faculty)Mon 04 Dec 2023 13:47:29
Paul BakerModified asset data - Modified the Asset AddressWed 10 Apr 2019 15:26:36
Paul BakerModified the Grid ReferenceWed 10 Apr 2019 15:26:01
Paul BakerAdded exterior feature typeMon 25 Sep 2017 10:53:20
Paul BakerModified asset data - Modified the Burial and War Grave informationMon 25 Sep 2017 10:44:49
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