The Church of St Michael,

Llanfihangel Tor-y-Mynydd Llanfihangel Tor-y-Mynydd (or more correctly Llanfihangel-tor-y-mynydd, meaning, in Welsh, "the church of St. Michael on the breast of the mountain") is a small rural village in the community of Devauden, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located withi ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

is a parish church with its origins in the 14th or 15th century. A

Grade II* 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 ...

, the church remains an active parish church.

History

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

notes that the interior construction of the Church of St Michael suggests a construction date in the 14th century but nothing now remaining can be dated to earlier than the late 15th century. The church was restored by

John Pollard Seddon John Pollard Seddon FRIBA (19 September 1827 – 1 February 1906) was a British architect, working largely on churches. His father was a cabinetmaker, and his brother Thomas Seddon (1821–1856) a landscape painter. Born in London, he was educa ...

and

John Prichard John Prichard (6 May 1817 – 13 October 1886) was a Welsh architect in the neo-Gothic style. As diocesan architect of Llandaff, he was involved in the building or restoration of many churches in south Wales. Personal history John Prichard wa ...

in 1853–4. The parish of Llanfihangel Tor-y-Mynydd was merged with the parish of Llangunnog in 1902. The church remains an active parish church.

Architecture and description

The church is constructed of

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

rubble with a roof of

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...

. The nave and

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

are part of the Victorian restoration. The font is also by Prichard and Seddon. The building is Grade II* listed as "an attractive and well preserved medieval church".

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Llanfihangel Tor-y-Mynydd, Saint Michael Grade II* listed churches in Monmouthshire History of Monmouthshire Church in Wales church buildings 14th-century church buildings in Wales