Church of St Gwyndaf

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in walled churchyard in centre of Llanwnda.

History

Medieval parish church, the nave carefully restored 1880-2 by E H Lingen Barker at a cost of £405. Seven carved stones were found and built into or placed against the walls, and a shelf placed over the porch arch for fragments. The squint or lepers' window from porch to S aisle was found as well as a staircase in W wall of N transept with doorways top and bottom.

The chancel taken down to the foundations and rebuilt for £382 with the loss of the irregular arches to aisles, by Ewan Christian.

Exterior

Rubble stone with tarred slate roof, low nave and chancel with W double bellcote and short, lean-to aisles embracing E end of nave and W end of chancel. Gabled S porch. Small sanctus bellcote over E end of nave. Battered windowless W wall with leaning 2-arch bellcote, C19 coping and cross. S porch is large with pointed arch, slate shelf over and coped gable with rough block finial.

Plastered stone vaulted roof, stone seats and small squint window into S aisle within. To right, 2-window aisle overlaps chancel; two 2-light windows and E end single light, all of 1880-2. Early Christian carved stone with human figure under aisle E window. Chancel stonework beyond appears all of 1882, but single light each side incorporates fragment of original, and incised cross stone is reset in wall each side. E end has 1882 Bath stone 3-light window. N lean-to aisle with one medieval single light and one 1880-2 2-light. Late C18 plaque on E wall. Nave has one 1880-2 2-light.

Interior

Yellow-washed plaster with plastered original chancel arch and arches to W into aisles. C19 rebuilt arches to aisles E of chancel arch. Low plastered arches between nave and chancel aisles. Nave has 3 original king-post trusses. N aisle is plastered and stone vaulted, S aisle has C19 roof. Nave E end has rough stone corbels. Medieval plain square font with round shaft on unusually large 6 ft square plinth. Stone seats against nave W and S walls. 1882 chancel has pine roof with trusses on corbels, encaustic tiles and brass standards to rails. Piscina built into chancel S wall and another into chancel S aisle wall, both found during restoration.