St George’s Church

Cadw's description

Location

Prominently located on the E side of the street, set within large railed churchyard.

History

Built 1835-36 to the designs of John Jenkins of London, architect. The church was required to serve the rapidly growing ironworks town. Designed in the neo-Norman style, briefly popular for church architecture in the 1830s and 1840s.

Exterior

Plan consists of galleried nave, very short chancel, and W tower containing entry. Construction of squared ironstone; slate roof. Minimal Bathstone detail to W elevation and tower. West tower of four stages: stringcourse above impost level of W door continuing to sills of nave windows; also string below belfry stage. Low corbelled parapet to tower. Two-light belfry windows, round-arched lights on shafts with cushion capitals; continuous hoodmould. Second floor of tower has small roundel to each face with radiating glazing. Tall round-arched single light window to each face of first floor; tall shafts, small-paned glazing. West door is of two orders, the outer arch with sawtooth detail, the inner with chevrons. Shafts with foliage caps. Boarded and studded doors with branched hinges. S and N elevations of nave are seven bays long with tall round-arched recessed windows with continuous hoodmould. W-facing flanks of nave each have similar window set above round-arched doorway, which have moulded heads. E end of nave is rendered, as is chancel, which has plain E triplet; smaller triplet below to basement; small lean-to to S.

Interior

Gallery along both long sides on thick iron columns, which have scalloped caps. Simple repeated pattern to painted timber gallery fronts consisting of short shafts with lozenges above. Gallery curtailed at W end, to form first floor room. Simple flat ribbed roof. Large painted Neo-Norman chancel arch of two orders, the arches with guilloche and double-chevron detail; shafts with carved caps. C20 furnishings. Gallery stairs off E end of nave to N and S. Also stair from tower vestibule, with side flights rising to centre flight above inner door, supported by columns with scalloped caps. Good quality monuments include those to Alfred Homfray, surgeon to Tredegar Ironworks, d. 1851 (relief portrait in roundel; by John Evan Thomas); Mary Davis, wife of the Ironworks manager and promoter of the town clock, d. 1857 (large classical monument with kneeling woman, children and urn; by J Edwards), and William Bevan, d. 1868, principal agent of the Ironworks (tablet with relief portrait of Bevan flanked by seated mourning clerk and miner; by E. W. Wyon of London) E window by Maile & Son, 1967, Ascension.

Reason for designation

Listed as a well-preserved early C19 parish church, notable for its early use of neo-Norman detail, and for its interior memorials to important figures associated with the Tredegar Ironworks.