Church of Saint Edi

Cadw's description

Location

Situated some 300m SE of the B4297 in the village of Llanedi, at end of Church road, in a walled and gated churchyard.

History

Base of tower (late medieval) and C18 mortuary chapel are all that remain of the old church, restored by R.K. Penson in 1857 when the nave and chancel were rebuilt, the vestry added and the tower raised. Original plans for the tower show a saddleback roof, but at the church reopening in 1860 the tower was reported as being '5 foot of woodwork below the square, terminating in a 4 sided roof '. This wooden tower was later replaced by the present stone structure.

Exterior

Rubble stone with slate roof and stone ridge. W tower with hipped roof, nave and chancel roofed separately. Base of tower late medieval; battered plinth capped by plain oversailing course, then sheer vertical walls to belfry, which is slightly recessed and rises from a moulded string course. Tower in three stages: ground-level has older pointed arched opening with stone voussoirs (now blocked) to W; next stage has two- light trefoil window; then C19 belfry - big triple-lancets, louvred with chamfered ashlar dressings. Large moulded stone block corbels below tower eaves, weathercock and vane. Small round arched windows above nave roof on E side. Entrance porch to S of nave has steeply pitched gabled roof which oversails at eaves, moulded plinth, and buttresses either side. Pointed-arched entrance doorway with stone voussoirs, painted wooden wicket-gate. S wall has plain buttresses either end of nave; to left of porch lancet with trefoil head, to right two 2-light lancets with plate tracery (spandrel pierced by a circle). Chancel has 2-light trefoil headed lancets, with trefoil in plate tracery. Lean-to vestry; entrance door up stone steps to W has flat head with dropped and rounded shoulders, small 2-light trefoil vent above. N wall of nave has single trefoil headed lancet and two 2-light plate tracery windows separated by butresses. To N of chancel, C18 mortuary chapel with pointed arched window in N gable; sash window with wooden astragals and delicate intersecting tracery, window head has rubbed stone voussoirs, stone sill. E window 3 lights, large central trefoil flanked by two smaller ones, with trefoils in the tracery; hood mould with end stops enriched by floral decoration, sill has dropped ends and links with moulding on plinth to form continuous band

Interior

Nave roof of 5 bays; deep arched collar trusses, with two moulded trefoils and a quatrefoil above the collar. Scissor-rafter roof to chancel. Big pointed gothic chancel arch with inner rib springing from corbelled attached shafts which have foliate ornament at base. Entrance door in N chancel wall to C18 mortuary chapel, three mid-C19 tomb-chest monuments to Jones family of Court-y-Kydrim (now known as Plas Mawr): plain vaulted whitewashed ceiling and walls, red and black chequer quarry tile floor.Simple close-backed pews with panelled square ends. Pine altar rail has wrought iron in-panels. Pulpit raised on hexagonal ashlar base, moulded plinth; hexagonal wooden drum, the panels richly carved with blind tracery consisting of trefoil headed arches in pairs with tracery of quatrefoils in the spandrels between the arches, pulpit stair has trefoil panels below the hand rail. C 19 font: circular bowl supported on four squat shafts with moulded bases, panels between shafts embellished with flowers, square plinth. Stained glass: N nave by Waine Bourne & Son, Birmingham and E window of 1904.

Reason for designation

A good example of a mid-C19 Gothic Revival church, incorporating earlier features of historic interest, set in a prominent location in Llanedi village.