Church Heritage Cymru 5823

A church here was traditionally first established by St Rhidian in the C6 (legend has it that Rhidian went on a pilgrimage to St David's where he brought back a lighted lamp, lit from the flame in St David's Cathedral.  He stayed with his friend Gwynour and shared the light with him.  On journeying on Rhidian came upon a snow storm and his light was blown out.  Initially distressed he remembered that he had shared the light with his friend, he returned to his friend's and had his lamp re-lit by the copy of the sacred light from St David's.)  The dedication of the church to Rhidian later had the name of St Illtyd added.

Llanrhidian Church was granted by William de Turberville in about 1167 to the Knights Hospitallers of St John, by whom the present building was probably started in the C13. In 1400 its chancel was described as ruinous, and the present chancel and the tower were perhaps added in the C14. The unusually massiveness of the tower (it includes at its top a base for a beacon fire) suggests construction at a time of serious defensive needs. Indeed, there were pirates operating in the Bristol Channel and Lundy island was a pirate lair particularly during the first half of the C13.  In such times the church could provide a short-term place of safety the chancel has an inclination to the north. Its two south windows have trefoil heads, but the east window has simple Perpendicular tracery.

By c1854 the church was in poor condition, and plans were drawn up to rebuild the nave and chancel, the tower alone being considered sound. The estimated cost was about £1400, and much of the expense was defrayed by local landowners C R M Talbot and H H Vivian (of the Copper Smelting family in Swansea and whose bronze statue may be seen in the St David's shopping centre in Swansea). £150 was received from the ICBS. The architect of the restoration was R K Penson of Swansea, and the incumbent was the Rev Thomas Matthews, Penclawdd, stipendiary curate.

There were difficulties in affording all that was necessary, and following demolition of the nave the decision was made in 1855 to retain the old chancel. Children's pews on a raking floor were formed in the base of the tower, but not in the form of a raised gallery as at first intended, the structural alterations for a raised gallery being found too difficult or expensive. Any intention to use the west door processionally was thus frustrated. By May 1857 the new nave roof was completed. In 1858 the church was re-opened by the Bishop of St David’s.

A further restoration was carried out in 1899-1901, concentrating on the chancel. This was at the cost of Miss Emily Talbot. A new oak roof was constructed in the chancel, copying an earlier one; a new chancel floor was laid and a carved altar and other fittings by the Rev J D Davies were installed, including carved bosses added to the nave roof.

An ancient stone from C19 or C10 known as the Leper Stone was discovered near the tower was brought into the porch in c1865.    A face is carved with two very primitive figures and stylised rampant animals to either side.  The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales has tentatively identified them as St Paul and St Anthony meeting in the desert.  This was a subject popular in contemporary Irish art and the stone may have been intended as a lintel.  When the Welsh Stone Forum visited the site thy were able to see the 'solution holes' caused by both weathering and from the fruiting bodies of lichen, which showed that the stone must have stood outside'.  The stone against the south nave wall caused further controversy as the Forum could not decide whether it came from Anglesey or from North Wales.

According to Reverend J. D. Davies of Llanmadoc and Cheriton, there once existed a medieval village and church called Llanelen, off Welsh Moor, during the reign of Edward VI. Yet today, other than a monument erected here, nothing exists of this mysterious settlement, except a few scattered stones.

Folklore tells us that a ship, returning from a cruise abroad, foundered in the Burry Estuary and the survivors climbed ashore and up the hill to the sanctuary of Llanelen. The kindly villagers welcomed the ship's crew, unaware that they were infected with the plague. Within a week the entire village had either succumbed to the deadly illness or had fled for their lives.

Archaeologists began excavations of the site in 1973 until 1985, with additional research carried out during the winters of 1991-2 and 1994-5. Experts found evidence of a two-chambered stone building considered to be a 12th century church, overlying an earlier timber construction.  The foundations of a further simple domestic stone building were found nearby along with 31 graves and numerous domestic objects made from stone, pottery and metal.

It is theorised that the original church building was turned into a farmhouse in the second half of the 13th century at the same time the second domestic building would have been constructed. This certainly suggests that the site was used by humans from before the 12th century, but there is not enough evidence to correlate with J. D. Davies' account of the existence of a village here. However, evidence found during the archaeological excavations alongside investigations into the history of Llanelen and its sudden demise could not discount the legend of the plague ship.

Pottery finds at the site of the old farmstead date to around 1350, suggesting that the building had been abandoned during the time of the first arrival of the plague in Wales.

Stone is known to have been salvaged from the site buildings to construct a bridge nearby, at Gwernffrwd, and legend suggests that the remaining stones left on the fated site will curse all those who dare to touch them.

References

Cadw Listings Notice

Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan 2001

Church Quinquennial Inspection Reports

Welsh Stone Forum National Museum of Wales

Welsh History Month The Churches of Gower Dr Helen Nicholson Wales on-Line

A Medieval church now much restored into what is now essentially a Victorian Gothic building, the nave was rebuilt in 1856 and further restoration took place in 1899. The rebuilding was under the direction of R K Penson in an Early English style.  The tower is large with a raised section in the south-east corner which may once have been used as a Beacon. The whole building has a variety of window styles as seen in the nave, chancel, tower, vestry, and porch.  As the church sits on the edge of the Carboniferous limestone outcrop, the church is constructed of irregularly coursed limestone   but with a smaller amount of Old Red Sandstones with a steeply sloping slate roof, window openings are formed in Bath stone in a generally simple style with limited stone tracery.  The tower is a special feature, with a battered profile and an embattled parapet carried on double corbels, the staircase on the southeast corner is itself carried to a corbelled parapet higher than the main parapet.  There are numerous slit openings in the tower.  The stone above the chancel window has unusual pieces of rock certainly Sutton Stone but other pieces look 'suspiciously like Quarella Sandstone'.

Cadw Listings Notice

Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan 2001

Church Quinquennial Inspection Reports

Welsh Stone Forum National Museum of Wales

The church is entered through the south porch and the visitor finds a seven-bay roof over the nave with braced collar beam trusses.  The floor has an attractive arrangement of colourful quarry tiles.  The base of the tower is fully open while steps down lead to the tower door.  The tall, wide chancel arch has an equilateral form and is chamfered.  The chancel behind inclines to the left, it has a set of patterned encaustic floor tiles, one step above the nave with a further step to the altar.  The oak altar was carved by Revd J D Davies whose craftsmanship is to be found in many Gower churches and whose workmanship probably included the stalls in the chancel.  There is an oak altar rail on brass standards with iron legs.  In the nave stands an octagonal pine pulpit and a good quality carved oak eagle lectern, dated 1901.  The C19 hexagonal stone font stands on a circular shaft and base.

The chancel windows are by Jones and Willis 1901 a memorial to the Gordon family 'The Good Shepherd, true vine and bread of life'. 'The Four Evangelists' 1901, 'Christ Blessing the Children' memorial to Anne Davies.  John Newman's The Buildings of Wales Glamorgan records that 'their feeble craftsmanship is readily recognisable’ Within the chancel are a set of four reproductions of Old Masters: a C17 Spanish picture 'Virgin and Child', 'Crucifixion', 'Entombment' after Federigo Barocci, and 'The Adoration' copied from a print by Raphael'.

There is a single bell by H Eaton dated 1788. and a modern organ.

References

Cadw Listings Notice

Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan 2001

Church Quinquennial Inspection Reports