St Donat's Church | |
---|---|
Eglwys Sain Dunwyd | |
Location in Vale of Glamorgan | |
51°24′06″N3°32′03″W / 51.4016°N 3.5343°W | |
OS grid reference | SS 933 680 |
Location | Llanblethian, Vale of Glamorgan |
Country | Wales, United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church in Wales |
History | |
Founded | 12th century |
Dedication | St Dunwyd |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade I |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | Medieval |
St Donat's Church (Welsh : Eglwys Sain Dunwyd) is a Grade I listed church in St Donats, in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. It became a Grade I listed building on 22 February 1963. [1]
St Donat's Church was originally a small 12th century church with an apsed chancel. By the early 14th century the tower was added which was followed towards the late 14th century by the Lady Chapel, now known as the Stradling Chapel. In the 15th century the chancel was rebuilt and the nave the following century. [1] In 1878 Dr. Nicholl-Carne paid for the restoration of the main body of the church. In 1907 the then patron of the church, Morgan Stuart Williams, ordered the reconstruction of the tower. A heating chamber was later added to the tower but this was reconstructed in the late 20th century. [1]
The church has a long-standing association with the Stradling baronets, whose home, St Donat's Castle, overlooks the church. Several monuments to the Stradlings from the 17th and 18th century are found within its walls. [2] They also had strong associations with the Hancorne family. Thomas Hancorne, a jacobite prominent in High Church circles, was rector of St Donat's from 1674 to 1707. [3]
The church was granted Grade I listed building status in 1963, with the reason stating that it was "highly graded as an important early medieval church with the particularly fine Stradling Chapel and for its historic associations with St. Donat's Castle". [1]
Originally built in the 12th century, St Donat's retains architectural features from all five of its different stages of growth. [4] The chancel arch is evidence of its 12th century construction, plain, round-headed with primitive caps. [4] The double headed double-chamfered tower arch is believed to be early 14th century, while the north chancel chapel, with its square-headed three light eastern window, was added later that century. [4] The chancel was reconstructed in the 15th century with many features from that build still in evidence: the piscina (altar basin) with cusped ogee hood, the nave with its north porch, the corbelled parapets to the nave with gargoyles and the corbelled tower battlements. [4] The work from this period also shows comparisons to the late 15th century hall at the castle. [4]
The body of the church was restored in 1878 and the tower in 1907. Other features of note include the circular font with roll top and bottom with scale patterned sides. [4] A medieval wooden lectern, not original to the church, which was bought in 1913. [4] The eastern window is of stained glass and displays an image of Saint Donat (circa 1862), believed to be by Clayton and Bell, but its providence is uncertain. [4]
The churchyard contains several structures of note, several of them having listed building status. One of the oldest features is a complete 15th century preaching cross mounted on a three stepped plinth. The cross is listed as a grade I listed building recognised '...for its special interest as a complete medieval cross with a rare medieval gravestone beside it.' [5] It is also a Scheduled monument. [6] A memorial cross to Mary Anne Nicholl-Carne, a former owner of St Donats Castle who died in 1879, has grade II listed status and is found to the north west of the church tower. [7] The walls and railings surrounding the churchyard are also grade II listed, of 19th century build but include some sections of earlier 17th century design. [8]
Within the church, held in the Stradling Chapel, are three painted family portraits on panels, depicting Sir Edward Stradling (1529-1609) and his wife, the others his forebears, dated 1590 and signed by Byrd. [1] [4] These items were stolen from the chapel in 1991, but subsequently recovered; those presently on display are now photographic copies. [1] [4] The chapel also contains the tombs of Sir Edward Stradling (1699-1726) and Sir Thomas Stradling (1710-1738), last of the Stradling line. [1] [4]
Ewenny Priory, in Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, was a monastery of the Benedictine order, founded in the 12th century. The priory was unusual in having extensive military-style defences and in its state of preservation; the architectural historian John Newman described it as “the most complete and impressive Norman ecclesiastical building in Glamorgan”. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, parts of the priory were converted into a private house by Sir Edward Carne, a lawyer and diplomat. This Elizabethan house was demolished between 1803 and 1805 and replaced by a Georgian mansion, Ewenny Priory House. The house is still owned by the Turbervill family, descendants of Sir Edward. The priory is not open to the public apart from the Church of St Michael, the western part of the priory building, which continues to serve as the parish church for the village. The priory is in the care of Cadw and is a Grade I listed building.
St Donat's Castle, St Donats, Wales, is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 16 miles (26 km) to the west of Cardiff, and about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to the west of Llantwit Major. Positioned on cliffs overlooking the Bristol Channel, the site has been occupied since the Iron Age, and was by tradition the home of the Celtic chieftain Caradog. The present castle's origins date from the 12th century when the de Haweys and later Peter de Stradling began its development. The Stradlings held the castle for four hundred years, until the death of Sir Thomas Stradling in a duel in 1738.
St Donats is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, located just west of the small town of Llantwit Major. The community includes the village of Marcross and the hamlets of Monknash and East and West Monkton. It is named after the 6th-century saint, Dunwyd, a friend of Saint Cadoc. It had a population of 732 in 2011.
St Garmon's Church is in the centre of the village of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl, Denbighshire, Wales. It is an active Anglican church in the diocese of St Asaph, the archdeaconry of St Asaph and the deanery of Dyffryn Clwyd. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.
St Mary's Church, Tal-y-llyn is a medieval church near Aberffraw in Anglesey, north Wales. It was originally a chapel of ease for the parish church of St Peulan's, Llanbeulan, but the township that it once served, Tal-y-llyn, no longer exists. It was declared a redundant church in the early 1990s, and has been in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches since 1999. Services are held once per month during part of the year.
St Mary's Church, Derwen, is a redundant church in the centre of the village of Derwen, Denbighshire, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. The churchyard contains Derwen Cross, an important medieval sculpture, which is listed at Grade II* and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
St Michael and All Angels Church, Llanfihangel Rogiet, is a redundant church in the hamlet of Llanfihangel Rogiet near the village of Rogiet, Monmouthshire, Wales. It has been designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. The church stands in a rural site between two farms, is near the Paddington-Swansea railway line, and close to the intersection of the M4 and M48 motorways. It can be approached only through a private farmyard.
St David's Church, Llangeview, is a redundant church sited in a round churchyard adjacent to the junction of the A449 and A472 roads 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the town of Usk in Monmouthshire, Wales. It has been designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. It is Grade I listed because of its "exceptional interior" including a 15th-century rood-loft and "rare pre-Victorian box pews and fittings". The church stands in a churchyard that is almost circular, and is surrounded by a bank and the traces of a ditch.
St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog is a small medieval church, in Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, north Wales. The date of establishment of a church on this site is unknown, but one 19th-century Anglesey historian says that it was about 450. The oldest parts of the present building are dated to about 1400, with the chancel dating from the late 15th or early 16th century. It is built from rough, small, squared stones, dressed with limestone. One of the windows on the south side is raised to illuminate the pulpit, a decision that in the eyes of one 19th-century commentator "disfigures the building."
St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy is a medieval parish church in the north-west of Anglesey, north Wales. The date of foundation of the church, which is in the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, is unknown, but the oldest parts date from the 11th or 12th century. It has twice been enlarged: in the 15th century, when the chancel was rebuilt, and in the 16th century, when a chapel was added to the south of the chancel, separated by three arches. The tower at the west end is from the 17th century. A south porch of unknown date has been converted into a vestry, and the church is now entered through the tower.
St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church at Dixton in Wales. It is situated on the banks of the River Wye, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of Monmouth, Wales. The church is a Grade II* listed building and the cross in the churchyard is both a listed building and a scheduled monument.
The Church of St Martin, Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire, Wales, was begun in the 12th century, although most of the current structure dates from the 13th century. The church is most notable for its extreme tilt, the result of a landslide. This has led to many attempts to strengthen the church and prevent its collapse, through the use of massive tie beams and buttresses. The church is in the Gothic style, and has a chancel, nave, south porch, and western tower. A round-headed north window dates to the 12th century, and the nave roof has been dated to the late 13th or early 14th century. St Martin's is a Grade I listed building and an active parish church. It is dedicated to St Martin of Tours.
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The Church of St Teilo is the parish church of Llantilio Crossenny, Monmouthshire, Wales. "An unusually grand cruciform church", with an Early English tower crossed by a Decorated chancel, it was designated a Grade I listed building on 19 November 1953
St Michael's Church is in Church Lane, Aughton, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Ormskirk, the archdeaconry of Wigan & West Lancashire, and the diocese of Liverpool. Its benefice is united with that of Holy Trinity, Bickerstaffe. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
There are 33 Grade I listed buildings in the Vale of Glamorgan all of which are churches and priory buildings, castles, country or manor houses and associated structures such as churchyard crosses and a dovecote.
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