Church of St Bleiddian

Cadw's description

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.

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.

Reason for designation

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