St Ellyw's church, Llanelieu, was the parish church of the former parish of St Ellyweis. Its origins are 13th - 15th century, and it was carefully restored in 1905 by Baldwin of Brecon, and further repaired in 1981. The church is a single cell plan with an added 16th century porch, built of sandstone rubble with a slate roof. Two 7th - 9th century grave markers are attached on either side of the porch.
The interior walls probably retain their medieval plaster. There is a painted, stencilled 6-bay roof. The church has an exceptional regional example of a medieval rood screen. The screen and tympanum are painted, and there are painted ‘figures’ in the nave. There is also a fragment of Royal Arms and a border and texts dating to the C18th. On the southwest wall of the church there is a fine sandstone sundial, inscribed PB WARDEN 1686.
Sources include:
Cadw listed buildings database.
Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 52, 62, 69, 70, 105.
RCAHMW 2022