You have no advanced search rows. Add one by clicking the '+ Add Row' button

St Blethian's Church, Llanblethian

Loading Map
NPRN164
Map ReferenceSS97SE
Grid ReferenceSS9850074030
Unitary (Local) AuthorityThe Vale of Glamorgan
Old CountyGlamorgan
CommunityCowbridge with Llanblethian
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodMedieval
Description

St Blethian's Church, Llanblethian, evidence of C12 and C14 fabric, with tower of 1477. Extensively restored 1896-7, and further restoration to the tower in 1907. Constructed of local stone with slate roofs. Comprises nave, chancel, S chapel with adjacent S porch, W tower. In Decoraetd and Perpendicular styles. Restored late medieval arch braced roof to nave; vaulted crypt to S chapel; medieval tub font in the chancel.

A note in Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1898 records the presence of now destroyed late medieval wallpaintings under the cornice of the north wall of the nave. They included a saw, sword and scourge in red and yellow with drops of blood and dark red roses. The may represent the remains of a "Christ of the Trades" (cf Llangybi, Gumfreston).

Sources include:
CADW listed buildings database
Archaeologia Cambrensis 1898, p. 125 & fig 7.
RCAHMW Wallpaintings Database. 2004.09.14/RCAHMW/SLE
Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 16, 137.

 

RCAHMW 2021