The name or dedication of the church.
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.
A unique identification number given to every church.
The name of the diocese in which the church is located.
The name of the archdeaconry in which the church is located.
This is the legal name of the parish as given by the Church Commissioners.
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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.
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 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.
There are over 500 conservation areas in Wales. They are designated by local planning authorities for their special architectural and historic interest.
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.
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).
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.
Useful information is displayed here for people wishing to visit the church. This may include things like opening hours, catering & toilet facilities, parking, etc.
If the church has its own website the details will be displayed here.
Any further sources of information for the church will be listed here (eg. links to other historic databases).
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.
This is the name of the Local Authoirity within which the church is located.
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.
Usk is 23km north of Newport along the A472 and 13km east of Pontypool, the church is in the town centre just south of the main thoroughfare.
Reference AA Route Planner OS Map 171 Cadw Listing Notice 2123
This is a description of the ground plan of the church.
If known, the dimensions (measurements) of the church ground plan will be displayed here.
If the footrprint (area) of the church is known, it will be displayed here.
A description of the history and archaeology of the church and its site.
There is no evidence of a pre-Conquest church here. Possibly the first church was associated with the nearby Castle, its site probably the present nave W of the crossing tower. Priory was a Benedictine Nunnery founded by Richard Strongbow de Clare between 1154 and 1170. The Priory Charter was an important element in the planning of the town of Usk. Nave and crossing tower date from this early period. N aisle added in C13 for use of local population and widened in C15. The moulded NE pier may indicate the division between the nun's E bay and people's 3 W bays of the N aisle. As can be seen from the holes, a screen formerly separated the nave from the N aisle. The fine porches may have been built by Sir William Herbert died 1469. Dissolution in 1536. Chancel destroyed. In early C19 the large N vestry accommodated the Grammar School and the Writing School. TH Wyatt in 1844 vaulted the crossing space of former tower as sanctuary and added extra W bay to nave. Gallery removed 1875. Further restoration by GE Halliday, diocesan architect of Llandaff, c 1900 when Perpendicular style N and S windows and ribbed and boarded waggon roofs to nave and aisle were restored. Fine organ was designed in 1862 for Llandaff Cathedral by Prichard and Seddon and installed as part of c1900 restoration.
A description of the exterior of the church and the main features of the churchyard.
Priory church with mainly Norman and Perpendicular masonry. Nave, wide N aisle, W and N porches, crossing tower, NE vestry wing. Built mainly of stone rubble with mostly smallscale ashlar dressings, ashlar porches and buttresses; slate roofs with moulded apex stones. Main approach is from NW. W elevation consists of the stepped but almost equal width separately gabled W fronts of the nave and N aisle, both with C19 4-light Perpendicular-style windows, diagonal buttresses to corners. The N aisle is shorter and in the angle between the two units is one of two late medieval porches with quatrefoil parapet and moulded pointed arch decorated with crockets and flanked by little crocketed turrets, with moulded cornice, gargoyles to sides, angled corner buttresses with offsets and stepped coping. Inside is a 2-bay lierne vault and inner doorway with pointed moulded arch in a square frame with cusped spandrels; niche with holy water stoup to side, crocketed niche with figure above, stone benches and slender half round attached columns in each corner . N elevation has 3 similar Perpendicular style windows to nave, projecting continuous plinth course, stepped buttresses. Similar N porch with moulded pointed arched doorway with crockets and parapet with deep cross-moulded panels and central heraldic panel over the doorway apex and carved head above; gargoyles to sides and the stepped buttresses create a more uneven profile than at W. The tower forms the E end of the church with the steep gabled rooflines of former transepts and chancel clearly visible. Four storeys with embattled and corbelled parapet and round stair turret at NW corner, the storeys separated by string-courses. Ringing chamber has near-round-arched paired louvred lights, single Norman plain 2 ordered arch to tower chamber below; single round-arched lights within the former priory roof-space. The former E Norman arch to the crossing was filled with 3 stepped lancets to form current E window. Single storey vestry added at NE. S elevation onto The Priory not easily accessible. Nave has 3 windows similar to N, flat pilaster buttress and long SW lancet.
Information about any noteable architects, artists, people, or events associated with the church.
Information about any important features and building fabric.
If known, a list of the church's major building material/s will be displayed here.
Any renewable energy systems the church is using will be listed here.
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.
Interior has unrendered stone rubble walls and ashlar piers. Boarded C19 ribbed roofs with embattled wallplates on corble table; gilded bosses to N aisle; carved angels over the chancel screen. N arcade has circular piers with moulded bases and moulded caps and two orders of chamfered pointed arches; the E freestanding pier has 4 slender attached shafts. Across chancel and aisle a Perpendicular screen, 19 bays in all, with deep traceried openings, slender mullions, ribbed coving and rood beam with 4 bands of decoration, formerly supporting the rood loft. The screen has open cusped tracery below the middle rail to nave, unlike the more usual wainscot; the arched doorways are 2-bays wide. It is set on a later panelled dark wood base. Nave screen was coloured by Halliday c 1900 and has an inscription to middle rail; N aisle screen is dark-stained with no crest or middle rail. C15 brass attached to chancel screen commemorating of Adam of Usk, died 1430, chronicler of town and benefactor of Priory. Panelled pulpit, the remains of a 3-decker, with turned balusters to stairs is at SE nave; medieval parish chest adjacent. Fine mid C19 brass lectern. Plain pews. Font C12 at NW is deep and square with chamfered angles on a stem with 4 attached shafts. The chancel is the former E bay of the nave. Adjacent to NE pier is the lower section of the circular staircase tower. In the nave is a Norman upper window into the former crossing. This is now the E end with sanctuary division, one step up, just below the clustered E piers. These consist of originally triple half round columns with scallop capitals and plain stepped imposts which support two orders of arches with smallscale zigzag band and roll moulding to E arch; the blockings have reduced the triples to pairs except at the unaltered E. Plain painted cross-rib vault. Aumbry in angle at SE. Arched door to vestry in N sanctuary wall. Laudian altar rails with turned balusters. At E end of N aisle behind the screen is the fine organ with polychrome pipes, some suspended horizontally like trumpets; timber case with pierced quatrefoils and other enrichments and inscription from Benedicite. Stained glass in W nave, Ascension by Joseph Bell 1886 commemorating abolition of town corporation; Chancel S, St Mary Magdalene scenes also by Bell 1889; E chancel Christ, Virgin and St John, attributed to Percy Bacon 1913; S Nave Good Samaritan by RJ Newbery 1925. At SW a black painted wooden board with gold and design recording seating of 1726. Fine group of C18- early C19 black and grey marble monuments in Neo-Classical style arranged on W wall, some signed Tyley of Bristol, the most notable the central Prothero monument depicting a weeping willow, a falling column on a chest tomb with oval plaque with added inscriptions. Also a C17 gravestone to Walter Jones on W wall of N aisle.
Information about the church's important internal fixtures and fittings.
Information about the church's important moveable items and artworks.
A description of the ecology of the churchyard.
Information about the presence of bats in the church building or churchyard.
Records whether the church has been consecrated.
Records whether there have been burials in the churchyard.
Records whether the churchyard is still being used for burials.
Records whether there are any war graves in the churchyard.
Any important churchyard structures will be listed here.
Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.
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.
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.
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.
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.