Church of St Michael

Location

Situated some 500m E of Brongest village, on crossroads W of Troedyraur Farm.

History

Built 1850-1 by Charles Davies of Cenarth, replacing a church of 1793.

Exterior

Squared Cilgerran stone with steep slate roofs. Pwntan sandstone S porch and W window dressings. Single nave and chancel, S porch, W bellcote and SE parallel-roofed vestry/bier house. Simple Gothic, timber-traceried windows in large pointed openings with stone voussoirs. Cusped Y-tracery, leaded glazing. Rounded corbels at outer angles. W end plinth, two sandstone chamfered windows, slate coping and bellcote with single pointed opening and coped gable. N side has four chamfered pointed windows with slate sills and stone voussoirs. Two-light timber tracery. S side has big sandstone rusticated porch with tall pointed chamfered arch and stone voussoirs, Gothic panelled door and thickly traceried overlight. Plastered pointed doorway within. Two windows to right, similar to those on N. SE range is steeply-roofed with coped W gable, small W door with eroded Tudor-arched head, possibly older work reused, windowless S side, and E window similar to those in nave. Main E window is larger, 3-light timber intersecting tracery. Various plaques inset into walls.

Interior

Plastered, whitewashed. Eight-bay open roof with deep arched braces to collar trusses, the braces on corbels. Plain pitch-pine pews and pulpit. One step to chancel and one to sanctuary. W end pretty organ in minimally Gothic box case, by Liddiatt & Sons, Leonard Stanley, Glos, early C19 in style but possibly of the 1870s. C13 square font with unusual short round beads at outer angles and some incised outlining. Simple Gothic altar rails, c1850. Later C19 marble Creed and Lord's Prayer plaques on E wall, and later C19 pressed brick dado.
Monuments: N wall: John Enoch (d1833), marble sarcophagus plaque, John Lloyd Williams of Gwernant (d1838), W.R. Bowen of Plas Troedyraur (d1874) and James Bowen of Plas Troedyraur (d1872), both by Wood of Bristol, oval marble plaque on grey ground with finely carved urn to Sarah Bowen (d1798) by T. King of Bath. S wall: brass to Lt Col H.G. Bowen (d1909), oval marble plaque with draped urn to Rebecca Bowen (d1794) by King, big marble plaque with scrolled top and patera to Frances Bowen of Plas Troedyraur (d1834), by D. Mainwaring, Gothic plaque to E.E. Bowen (d1869) and late C18 marble plaque with urn to family of J. Bowen of Glunllebyng (d1756), by King. In vestry, a C18 armorial plaque.

Reason for designation

Listed as an exceptional example of Gothic architecture only slightly influenced by ecclinological taste, with very unusual timber tracery, some good monuments and early medieval font. Group value.