Old Church of St. John the Baptist, Slebech, Pembrokeshire

History

Since the demolition of the adjacent commandery in the late C18, St John's Church has been the principal remaining monument of an important establishment of the order of knights hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. The visible fabric of the church now is mostly of the late mediaeval period with some subsequent alterations.

The benefice of Slebech with its church were first granted to the Order in the mid C12 by Wizo, Lord of Wiston, as a perpetual curacy. After the Dissolution the building became the parish church. At the Dissolution the church and estate were granted to Roger Barlow, whose descendants retained the old commandery as their seat until the end of the C18. George Barlow, who died in 1641, sought to re-endow the church as a vicarage, with lands, house and tithes; the S transept was to be dedicated as a chapel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the vicar was to pray twice daily for the souls of George Barlow and his heirs. This attempt to establish a latter day chantry was frustrated but the S transept became the Barlow private pew with a fireplace. The Philipps family of Picton Castle formed their private pew in the N transept.

Churchwardens' accounts show evidence of repair in the late C18. Six thousand slates were purchased in 1762/3. In 1766 the ceiling fell, and the last repairs were carried out in 1792. It was described by Fenton as a 'very respectable building' in its last years before redundancy. He mentions the rich canopy inlaid with white marble which covered the tomb in the S wall of the chancel, the two effigies within it which he took to be of differing historical periods, the nave paving of small 'painted bricks' resembling some preserved at Carew and the chancel paving of black and white marble, and the various monuments.

At the Consistory Court at Carmarthen, hearing objections to Baron and Baroness de Rutzen's grandiose proposed rebuilding of the church in 1835, its condition was dutifully condemned by the Rev. J Pugh, Rural Dean, and the Rev. A. Aymes. They represented it as ruinous with an unsafe tower and spire. (Fenton's description and drawing show, however, there was no spire.) They also mentioned the existence of a W gallery. The faculty to rebuild St John's on another site was granted. On completion of the new church the roof was taken off the old church and the building left to decay. Monuments were removed to the new church in the 1840s and after 1900.

In 1995 the title to the old church was granted to the Priory for Wales of the Reconstituted Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who had already carried out considerable work consolidating and preserving the ruins.

Sir William Hamilton (an acquaintance of Lord Nelson) and his first wife were buried in Slebech churchyard, but their tombstone was broken up.

Exterior

Nave with transepts and chancel, and a porch beneath a tower on the N side. Local rubble masonry brought to courses, with traces of external render. A tomb recess in the S of the chancel projects boldly externally, and is in ashlar masonry. The chancel arch wall and the S transept have been rebuilt partly in brickwork. There is a modern door to the S of the nave.

The E window is large but now lacks all tracery. Windows N and S of the chancel are possibly Tudor, but restored with modern brick segmental arches. Some good details survive in the N transept: at the N side three cinquefoil-headed lights under a Tudor arch; at the E side three tall cinquefoil-headed lights of equal height, also Tudor. In the S transept, rebuilt in the C17/18, there are round-headed windows at E and W and two roundels in the S gable.

The entrance at N faces toward Slebech Park and the presumed site of the commandery. Tudor-arched entrance doorway, 4-centred, beneath a relieving arch. Two carved shields in the spandrels and shields also at the terminations of the label mould. In the first storey above is a lancet window with a small carved shield above it. In the second storey there are square-headed apertures to the N and E. Twin belfry lights to N and S, single to E and W, all Tudor-arched.

Interior

Nave, transepts and long chancel at one level, with a wide chancel arch, a large rise at the sanctuary and a large tomb-recess (the effigies from which were removed to the new church), a late insertion in the S wall of the chancel. The chancel arch probably C14. The arch to the N transept is 4-centred, perhaps C15, with a late gothic enriched moulding at the impost. The arch to the S transept is modern. Step up to the porch beneath the tower, with an adjacent water stoup. The tower base is given a typical Pembrokeshire pointed barrel vault. Laws and Owen's description (1907) refers to the Barlow vault beneath the chancel.

The N transept was the Picton family chapel or pew, although the principal Philipps family memorials are in St Mary's in Haverfordwest. An altar stood at the E, with a small piscina and with a trefoil-headed aumbry cut into the E pier of the transept arch. The stairs to the tower commence from this transept.

The S transept which was the Barlow family chapel or pew is rebuilt in stone patched in brickwork. There is a fireplace.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for historical importance as the church of the most important commandery of knights hospitallers in Wales; although disroofed the building is preserved and retains many interesting mediaeval features.

Ancient Monument Pe 275.

External Links

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