St Tydfil's Church

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in an enclosed churchyard at S end of High Street close to roundabout on A470 road.

History

On the site of the martyrdom of St Tydfil in fifth century AD. Entire church rebuilt 1895-1901 to designs by J L Pearson, architect of London; C18 lower storeys of tower retained. Church closed for worship 1968.

Exterior

Burgundian Romanesque style. Plan of apsidal chancel, aisled nave (without clerestory), transept chapels, tall W tower, S porch, NE vestries and priest’s room.

Pale freestone dressings, bull-nosed facings, slate roofs, crucifix finials. Arcaded corbel-table, chevron window heads, roll-moulded sill band. Oculi to transept gables (S traceried), linked hoodmoulds to nave. Gabled S porch with billet cornice, Transitional-style blind arcading, foliage band over arch with nook shafts; boarded doors to shouldered inner opening under blind tympanum. Plain parapet over clock faces and linked bell-openings to 4-stage unbuttressed W tower, circled stair turret in NW angle. Banded quoins, impost bands, tall blind arches survive from Georgian lower stages.

Interior

Fine colourwashed interior with groin vaulted chancel and flanking chapels; twin roll-moulded transverse arches, pilaster responds and varied capitals with crockets, waterleaf and acanthus. 4-bay nave with diaphragm arches to flat ceiling, pointed transverse arches to aisles with groin vaults as before.

Furnishings include a medieval octagonal font (under tower); Pearson’s round, panelled pulpit; pelican lectern; good neo-classical wall monuments (from earlier church). Pair of Early Christian carved stones against N wall, one being the famous ring-cross, incised pillar stone of ARTBEU; the other the ANNICIUS stone.