History in Structure

Church of St Peter

A Grade II* Listed Building in Ceulanamaesmawr, Ceredigion

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Coordinates

Latitude: 52.4602 / 52°27'36"N

Longitude: -3.9382 / 3°56'17"W

OS Eastings: 268412

OS Northings: 286457

OS Grid: SN684864

Mapcode National: GBR 8Y.L50M

Mapcode Global: VH4F7.PFFD

Plus Code: 9C4RF366+3P

Entry Name: Church of St Peter

Listing Date: 18 July 1990

Last Amended: 19 September 1997

Grade: II*

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 10712

Building Class: Religious, Ritual and Funerary

ID on this website: 300010712

Location: Situated in village on S side of lane running ENE from main valley road, about 150m E of junction.

County: Ceredigion

Town: Aberystwyth

Community: Ceulanamaesmawr

Community: Ceulanamaesmawr

Locality: Bontgoch/Elerch

Traditional County: Cardiganshire

Tagged with: Church building

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History

Anglican parish church, built to serve Elerch township in Llanbadarn Fawr parish, 1865-8. Designed by William Butterfield for the Rev. Lewis Gilbertson, Vice-principal of Jesus College, Oxford, whose family lived at Cefn Gwyn, Elerch.

Exterior

Coursed rubble stone with sandstone dressings, rubble stone since rendered over on S,W and E walls. Slate roofs with crested ridge tiles. Complex and carefully-handled High Victorian design, a play of solid geometry building-up pitched roofs from the lowest vestry to the crowning tower pyramid. Nave and chancel with crossing tower, shallow S transept, large N porch, N transeptal stair-tower linked to NE vestry. Nave has tallest roof, S transept slightly lower, chancel lower again, then N stair tower hipped roof slips below tower sill course. A further gradation takes the eye from this hipped roof down to the hipped porch roof to the far right. Particularly fine is the NE sequence, the hipped stair-tower having a very tall wall-face chimney corbelled out from an otherwise flush wall that runs E with the roofs graded down from hip to lean-to (over the tower door) to lower lean-to over the vestry. This last returns the movement upward by being continuous with the chancel roof. Ashlar flush windows, sandstone quoins and corbels. Tower is rectangular, not square, with corbelled eaves and slate pyramid roof. Small shouldered-headed bell-lights with sill-course. Nave has W 2 cusped lancets and quatrefoil. Sills linked over mid-buttress. NW porch has corbelled eaves, hipped roof, double-chamfered arch with impost string course and side buttressing. String course on porch E and nave N under single 2-light and pair of 2-light windows. One buttress. S side is similar. Paired 2-lights each have a quatrefoil above. S transept has high 2-light with quatrefoil but also hoodmould. Chancel is windowless S, has stepped E triplet, and 2 buttresses below sill course. N vestry has sill course, E rectangular light, and N small traceried ashlar roundel. To right, stair tower shouldered N door with triangular hood and small single light under first floor corbelled stack with small stair light to left.

Interior

Plastered walls, scissor-rafter roofs. Broad chamfered W and E tower arches, dying into walls. S transept has higher arch, cleverly lighting crossing. Chancel has S pointed and cusped sedilia recess and small trefoiled shelf recess to left. N side vestry door. Furnishings: exemplary range of Butterfield's very simple but innovative Gothic woodwork, including open-back pews, canted-fronted pulpit with pierced panels, stalls with cusped pierced frontals, similar priest's stall, cusped pierced sanctuary rails, panelled pierced altar and small bench in sedilia recess. Exceptionally fine marble font: massive grey marble square bowl to subtle tapered form, on ashlar pier with red marble inset angle shafts, black marble square base and raised on an ashlar step. Also fine and characteristic of Butterfield are the graded stepped floors of the chancel with increasingly rich use of coloured and encaustic tiles subtly set in stone borders. Encaustic tiles are inset in ashlar reredos which has stepped top, and simple but careful tile patterning, the centrepiece a cross set on plain stone, the sides more heavily tile-inlaid. E window to the sisters of the Rev. Gilbertson is an exceptional work of Alexander Gibbs, Crucified Christ flanked by soldiers over three small story panels. Strong Gothic drawing style with clear lines and bold colours. Chancel N consecration memorial 1868. N door leads to passage with boiler-house cum stair-tower left and vestry right. Iron ladder to bell-stage with 4 bells. Weathercock stored in boilerhouse.

Reasons for Listing

Exceptional example of a small rural church by one of the leading High Victorian architects.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

Other nearby listed buildings

  • II Former Church School
    Situated in village opposite the church, on W side of lane running ESE from main valley road.
  • II The Old Vicarage
    Situated in the village of Bontgoch, in sloping gardens on left side of road some 150m N of the bridge.
  • II Y Felin
    Situated in Bontgoch, some 50m N of the bridge on W side of road.
  • II Outbuilding at Y Felin
    Situated between house and mill, in Bontgoch just N of the bridge on W side of road.
  • II Mill at Y Felin
    Situated above River Leri in Bontgoch just NW of the bridge, and below the house and outbuilding.
  • II Gate to Plas Cefn Gwyn
    Situated some 150m down drive to Plas Cefn Gwyn, on W side of road some 500m ENE of Bontgoch.
  • II Plas Cefn Gwyn
    Situated some 500m NE of Elerch parish church, off to W of road, above steep valley of the Leri.

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