Church Of St John, Rhydymwyn

Heritage listing

Reason for designation: Listed as an accomplished High Victorian design and an early work by one of the principal ecclesiastical architects of the period. History: The parish was created as a subdivision of Cilcain parish in 1865 and the church was built with the aid of a grant from the Incorporated Society for the Building of Churches. The site was donated by Philip Bryan Davies and the architect was the nationally important J L Pearson who had been engaged at works on Gwysaney for Davies. The building was erected 1861-4 at a cost of 2,500. Exterior: High Victorian Gothic Revival style with French influence. Squared rubble with dressed quoins and dressed banding and tracery, slate roof, red ridge tiles. The church is restrained in appearance in keeping with its rural setting, but strongly expressed and skilfully proportioned in High Victorian style. There is a bellcote at the west end, a gabled N porch, S vestry with chimney and plate tracery windows. The chancel is expressed externally beneath a lower roof, coped gable ends to nave and chancel have stone crucifix finials. The stone banding gives restrained polychromatic effect and it is enriched with quatrefoils on the chancel. To the N of the church is a stone gabled entrance to churchyard with crucifix finial. Interior: Aisleless; tall chancel arch with shafts with foliated caps, timber nave roof, 2 steps up to chancel, 1 step up to sanctuary, chancel has elaborate arch-braced ship s keel roof of European character with cusped and pierced windbraces, the walls have dark stone banding and a foliated cornice, reredos with marble shafts with foliated caps and cornice and scene of the Last Supper. Square stone font with marble shafts at W end, stone pulpit with arcading, simple bench seating. Organ by Charles Whitely &

From Cadw under OGL v3.