St Cynllo's Church

Heritage listing

Reason for designation: Listed grade II* as a largely medieval church with unusual E tower creating an attractive composition on a steep site, and with notable interior features from the C15 to the C19. History: The rounded churchyard and Celtic dedication suggest an early foundation. The present church is early C14 with tower added in the C15 or C16. Its unusual position at the E end is accounted for by the fact that the church is built on steep ground and the E side was the most practical and aesthetically the most effective solution. The church was altered in 1752, when the bell stage of the tower was remodelled. Major restoration was undertaken in 1908 by W.D. Caroe and H. Passmore, architects, who rebuilt much of the nave S wall, added the porch and inserted the baptistery. The contractors were Collins & Godfrey of Tewkesbury. Exterior: A parish church in a mixture of Gothic styles, on a steep site comprising nave, with crypt and S porch, and chancel under a single roof, and E tower. Walls are rubble stone, partly rendered in the nave S wall and wholly rendered on the N side. The roof is slate with overhanging eaves. The open-fronted rubble-stone S porch has a timber-framed gable with rendered panels. In its E wall is a wall tablet to John Dakins (d 1819). Inside the porch are stone steps to the early C14 nave S doorway, which has a continuous double chamfer to a 2-centred arch. The double doors are of 1908. Fragments of worked masonry have been incorporated into the E and W walls, and part of a stiff-leaf capital has been re-used as a stoup. This masonry is said to have been brought from Cwmhir Abbey. To the L of the porch is a boarded crypt door with studs and strap hinges, under an elliptical head with continuous hollow-chamfer and broach stops at half height. A

From Cadw under OGL v3.