History in Structure

Church of St Bleiddian

A Grade II* Listed Building in Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.4483 / 51°26'53"N

Longitude: -3.2817 / 3°16'54"W

OS Eastings: 311029

OS Northings: 172921

OS Grid: ST110729

Mapcode National: GBR HS.MZ54

Mapcode Global: VH6FC.2VGM

Plus Code: 9C3RCPX9+88

Entry Name: Church of St Bleiddian

Listing Date: 28 January 1963

Last Amended: 10 October 2002

Grade: II*

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 13635

Building Class: Religious, Ritual and Funerary

Also known as: St Bleddian
St Bleiddian's Church, St Lythans

ID on this website: 300013635

Location: In the centre of St Lythans hamlet, set back from the road, reached by a short track and surrounded by a roughly circular walled churchyard incorporating stone stiles.

County: Vale of Glamorgan

Community: Wenvoe (Gwenfô)

Community: Wenvoe

Locality: St Lythans

Traditional County: Glamorgan

Tagged with: Church building

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History

Medieval church with Norman font, but heavily restored by Prichard and Seddon c 1861, including porch, belfry openings and E window. List of incumbents from 1400. Large Tudor S chapel with inscribed initials RB for Robert Button of Dyffryn House.

Exterior

Medieval church. Plan of W tower, slightly wider nave, S porch, narrower chancel and large S chapel. Of rubble with ashlar dressings, slate roof with coping, corbels, kneelers, cruciform finials. W tower is slightly battered and has steep-pitched saddleback roof on corbels, apex lights; paired louvred belfry openings with cusped tracery (C19), more elaborate at W, rectangular slit lights below to N and S. S porch has plain chamfered pointed arched doorway; narrow interior has a renewed barrel roof, stone seats, flag floor; main S doorway has a deep hollow chamfer with stops. S nave has trefoil-headed single light W of porch, paired cinquefoil-headed lights under a hood E of porch and a blocked rectangular rood light opening under eaves. The S chapel has a separate pitched roof; wide Tudor-arched S doorway with RB carved in spandrels, moulded surround with a high stop; above is a relieving arch and at apex blocked rectangular opening; the S elevation has windows of trefoil-headed lights under hoodmoulds, one single, one paired; 2 corbels carved with grotesques. The E gable end is paired with that of the chancel: the 3-light E chapel window has Perpendicular tracery within a rectangular frame. The chancel E window is 3-light, pointed-arched with reticulated tracery, hoodmould and foliage stops; no windows to N chancel. N nave has one ogee-shaped single light at NE, double ogee-shaped lights with quatrefoil tracery, hoodmould and foliage stops at NW.

Interior

Interior is rendered with exposed dressings. Arch-braced roof in 4 bays with lower ridge piece, single row of purlins, boarded ceiling, possibly some timbers are original, restored C19; chancel has canted boarded ceiling with a grid of moulded ribs with heraldic bosses at intersections. Notable deep Norman font engraved with chevron pattern with unusual font cover carved with vine and grapes and cruciform metal fitting with ring. Nave has oil lamps converted to electricity. Pulpit, altar and altar rails by Prichard and Seddon. Parquet floor to pewless nave, flags to chancel, no stalls. Small blocked rectangular window at SE nave to light former rood. Completely plain pointed chancel arch. Three steps up to sanctuary, niche to left of altar and corbel to right. Some small wall monuments throughout. The most striking feature of the interior is the arrangement of bulbous piers, one detached and one attached at each side, with flattened segmental arches, created when the chancel S wall was breached by the addition of the Button chapel. This has an internal similar to external Tudor arch to W doorway, flag floor, no furnishings.

Reasons for Listing

Listed II* as a basically medieval church with a large Norman font and an interesting large C16 chapel.

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 Outbuilding to N of Nant Bran Farmhouse
    Near N corner of Nant Bran Farmhouse, aligned SW-NE.
  • II Nant Bran Farmhouse
    About 1.5km SSW of St Nicholas, reached from drive opposite Dyffryn Gardens. The house is towards NE end of rectangular farmyard aligned SW-NE.
  • II Former Bull Shed at Nant Bran Farm.
    Towards bottom end of yard at Nant Bran Farm, opposite long cowhouse.
  • II Agricultural Range opposite Nant Bran Farmhouse.
    Opposite (to NW) of Nant Bran Farmhouse, forming one side of rectangular farm yard.
  • II* Church of St Mary
    In the centre of Wenvoe village, fronting the main thoroughfare, in a roughly rectangular churchyard entered through a stone arch at NE.
  • II Wenvoe War Memorial
    In a small memorial park at the centre of Wenvoe village on the W side of Old Port Road, c80m to the north of the St Mary’s church and just to the south of the Wenvoe Arms.
  • II Telephone Call-box on Village Green
    Beside pathway in open ground close to boundary wall at south end of village green; Churchyard opposite. Old Port Road along E side.
  • II The Old Rectory
    In the centre of Wenvoe village, adjacent to the church, set back from the road within gardens, entered through a recessed bay to the front wall.

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