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St Colman's Church, Capel Colman

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NPRN412048
Map ReferenceSN23NW
Grid ReferenceSN2165038400
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPembrokeshire
Old CountyPembrokeshire
CommunityBoncath
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodMedieval
Description
St Colmans's church is situated within a rectilinear churchyard. The site is thought to be early medieval. Two possible curvilinear boundaries, visible as cropmarks some 50m apart, have been identified in the Feld to the south of the church. They may represent the concentric boundaries of former church enclosures. The current churchyard is thought to have been remodelled around the 18th?19th centuries as part of the Cilwendeg estate and park. Capel Colman 1 (NPRN 304097) (also known as Maen Golman), thought to date to the later 7th or 8th century, is thought to be associated with the church site. It stands on the west side of the lane leading to Glanpwlldu, some 180m south of the church. It is close to the curvilinear cropmark and may be in situ, defining the outer curvilinear boundary and demarcating ecclesiastical land. Both first and second edition and modern Ordnance Survey mapping depicts another stone some 13m north-east of the churchyard (in the north-western corner of the field that adjoins it to the east) is one of a number depicted on second edition Ordnance Survey mapping. They have the appearance of being part of the park landscape, some being incorporated into the surrounding field boundaries, but could have originated from the locality. The church was known as Llangolman in 1394, when it was held as a chapelry with the chapel of Cilfowir in Maenordeifi parish. The church was in the hands of the Crown in 1594 and was temporarily abandoned sometime between then and 1792, when it was united with Llanfihangel Penbedw (NPRN 300437). By 1833 the church was a parish church.

The church is a Grade II listed building, constructed of limestone slate rubble and slate ashlar.The form of the medieval building is not known. The current church consists of 2-bayed nave and chancel, west porch and west turret over the chancel. It was entirely rebuilt in 1835?1837 on the site of its medieval predecessor.

Sources include:
Dyfed Archaeological Trust, 2000, Historic Churches Project, Pembrokeshire gazetteer
Dyfed Archaeological Trust, 2003, Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites Project, Pembrokeshire gazetteer
Edwards, N. 2007, Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales

N Vousden, 14 November 2017

Resources
DownloadTypeSourceDescription
application/pdfMDCP - Martin Davies Church Plans CollectionDigital elevation drawing of St Colman's church, Boncath. Produced by Martin Davies in 2022.
application/pdfMDCP - Martin Davies Church Plans CollectionDigital plan and sections drawings of St Colman's church, Boncath. Produced by Martin Davies in 2022.