Church of St Tysoi

Cadw's description

Location

Situated at S end of Llansoy village about 250m S of junction with main road.

History

Anglican parish church probably of Celtic origins, in rounded churchyard. First rector recorded in mid C14, fabric mostly C15 with plain tower proposed in 1620 but only built in 1688-9. Restored by Prichard & Seddon in 1858, at a cost of £318.

Exterior

Parish church, red sandstone rubble with pale stone dressings, stone tiled roofs, coped gables and cross finials. Nave, chancel and W tower, S porch and N vestry. Tower is squat, square and quite plain with battlements. Cambered headed single bell openings with stone voussoirs and timber louvres, cambered-arched W door with thin stone voussoirs and relieving arch over. S side has blocked ground floor window and blank plaque. Nave has large SW cornerstones, battered wall base and oak boards to eaves. Flat-headed C15 Perpendicular-style windows with ogee tracery. One 2-light to left of porch, one 3-light to right and projecting rood-stair tower further right.
C15 porch has large cornerstones, big moulded pointed S entry with continuous mouldings similar to those at Llangwm Isaf, wave and hollow. Small W side loop. Bench seats within, high C15 roof with moulded wall plate and 6x3 panels, much renewed. C15 moulded 4-centred arched W doorway with repaired studded oak plank door. Base of stoup on E wall.
Rood stair projection has eroded purple stone C15 flat-headed single light, ogee-traceried. Chancel S has similar windows to nave, 2-light and 3-light each side of narrow ogee-moulded door with malt-shovel stop. C19 Bath stone 3-light E window with 4-centred head and ogee tracery. Battered base to E wall and large cornerstones. N side is windowless to left, C19 vestry to right has N door and flat-headed ogee traceried E end single light. Nave N has chamfered boarded eaves, battered base and 2 C19 flat-headed Bath stone 2-light windows with ogee tracery.

Interior

Rendered interior, detail mostly C15. Nave and chancel divided by chancel arch, both with C15 barrel roofs with moulded ribs, plaster panels and moulded deep wallplates. Nave has 4-centred arch over pointed W door, the original outer door before tower was added. Double board doors. Chamfered pointed W face with pyramid and bar stop, possibly C14. Iron hinges show former much lower floor level. Tower has boarded flat ceiling. Nave roof of 10 x 8 panels. C19 bench pews. S door has C15 segmental pointed head and depressed arched surround. Chamfered door to rood stair, raised up, stone stair within, upper door lost. C18 inscribed floor slabs.
Chancel arch has 2 wave mouldings, outer segmental pointed arch with moulding carried down jambs to some 1.4 metres (4' 6") above floor, inner pointed arch dying into side piers, both with ogee mouldings. Malt-shovel stops. Two steps into chancel. Faded C19 painted text over chancel arch 'This is the Gate of Heaven'. Long chancel has roof of 7 x 8 panels, bosses renewed. C19 Bath stone N door to vestry, Trefoil-headed recess to left in S wall. Triangular head to S doorway. Two steps to sanctuary with C18 turned timber baluster rails. Stone flagged floors, with some inscribed floor slabs in chancel, C17 and C18.
C19 octagonal font on octagonal shaft. Plain C19 timber pulpit with Gothic timber traceried chancel-arch rails attached. C19 stalls with open traceried fronts. East window with coloured stamped quarries of c1858. S chancel 3-light window with stained glass by Jones & Willis, 1930s. N nave glass by Jones & Willis, c1937, of Good Shepherd and Sower. S 3-light window, 1988 stained glass by Geoffrey Robinson, with seasons, harvest, rainbow and dove (Genesis 8 22).

Reason for designation

Graded I as a virtually complete C15 church (minimally restored by Prichard and Seddon), retaining a fine interior with panelled barrel ceilings and moulded stone chancel arch.