St Mary's Church is a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

place of worship near

Llandovery Llandovery (; cy, Llanymddyfri ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and west of Brecon. Histo ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It was formerly the parish church of

Llanfair-ar-y-bryn Llanfair-y-bryn is the name of a sparsely populated, rural community and Church in Wales parish in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Covering an area of some 95 km², it lies along and to the northwest and southeast of the A483 Swansea to Chester road ...

but was replaced in that function by a new church in a more central location. The present building dates from the 12th century. It has a large churchyard and is situated on a small hill to the north of the town. It was designated a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 3 August 1966.

The church

St Mary's was built inside

Alabum The rectangular enclosure that defined this Roman fort was built in the 70s AD as part of the campaign to integrate southern Wales into the Roman province of Britannia Superior. It lay on a key road, now known as the Sarn Helen (RR69), from the ...

, a Roman fort, on top of Llanfair Hill. A

monastic cell A cell is a small room used by a hermit, monk, nun or anchorite to live and as a devotional space. Cells are often part of larger cenobitic monastic communities such as Catholic and Orthodox monasteries and Buddhist vihara, but may also form sta ...

from around 1126 was already on the site before building commenced. It is one of the largest medieval churches in the county, and has a substantial tower at the west end with a square stair-tower on its northeastern corner. The church is built of rubble stone with plain tiles on the roof. Earlier dressings are mostly in red sandstone, while nineteenth century dressings are in

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

. The nave and chancel are directly connected to the tower, to the porch on the south side and to the vestry and organ chamber on the north. The hymn writer

William Williams Pantycelyn William Williams, Pantycelyn (c. 11 February 1717 – 11 January 1791), also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn, and Pantycelyn, is generally seen as Wales's premier hymnist. He is also rated among the great literary figures of Wale ...

(1717–1791) is buried in the churchyard, where there is a memorial to him. The church was designated a

on 3 August 1966, as an example of "a substantial medieval church with intricate history of building and change from the C12 to the C16, with fine W tower and high degree of survival of medieval architectural features". The

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectura ...

curates the archaeological, architectural and historic records for this church. These include a file of information concerning wall paintings, colour transparencies and black and white postcards.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 52.00123, -3.79340, format=dms, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title

Llanfair-ar-y-Bryn Llanfair-y-bryn is the name of a sparsely populated, rural community and Church in Wales parish in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Covering an area of some 95 km², it lies along and to the northwest and southeast of the A483 Swansea to Chester road ...

Llandovery