Churchyard Walls and Bierhouse at St Mary's Church including Sandstone Gatepiers and Gates

Cadw's description

Location

Enclosing the churchyard of St Mary's church.

History

Random rubble churchyard walls enclosing the area of the original Llan, with a late C19 rectangular bierhouse at the SW corner, perhaps contemporary with the restoration by J Oldrid Scott in 1876.

Exterior

Of rubble with squared, rough-dressed limestone quoins and a slate roof; plain, deep verges. Boarded door to the E side with exposed timber lintel and stopped-chamfered frame. The S (road-facing) gable has large boarded double doors with exposed timber lintel. To the R of the bierhouse is a plain iron gate with square limestone piers and shallow pyramidal capping (that to the R pier of cement).

The churchyard wall runs eastwards from this point for some 50m at a height of approximately 1.5m with stones set on edge as capping. Opposite the S door of the church is a plain late C19 or early C20 iron gate with tall flanking sandstone gatepiers. These are probably early C18 (perhaps relating to the cyclopean W entrance lintel at the church, dated 1715). They are square, approximately 2.3m high and with elongated pyramidal capping with surmounting ball finials; the piers are spiked into the walls. To the R of the gate the wall curves around the E side of the churchyard where it becomes a revetment wall following a path down to the village; this section has an irregular rubble crenellated parapet and reaches a height of approximately 4.2m at the NE corner of the churchyard. The wall continues around the N side of the churchyard as a lower revetment and finally returns southwards as a low rubble wall to join up with the bierhouse. A later, early C20 walled churchyard adjoins to the W.

Reason for designation

Included for group value with the parish church of St Mary.