St Odoceus' Church, Llandawke, is a redundant church situated in a hollow near the road between

Llandawke Llandawke is a small settlement in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated roughly 1 mile from Laugharne, toward Tenby. It contains the now redunandant 13th century St Odoceus' Church, Llandawke, church of St Odoceus, which lay within the parish toward ...

and Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It has been designated by

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 ...

as a Grade II listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.

History

The church dates from the 13th century and it was remodelled during the following century by Sir Guy De Brian, the Lord Marcher of Laugharne. The church was restored during the Victorian era. When it was inspected by Cadw in 1988 it was described as being "partly overgrown". It was taken under the care of the charity, the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2006, when it was in "a state of dereliction". The charity holds a 999-year lease with effect from 24 April 2006. A local group of Friends has been formed to assist in its repair and restoration.

Architecture

Exterior

It is constructed in local sandstone with

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roofs in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. Its plan consists of a four-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave without aisles, a three-bay chancel that is lower and narrower, and a west tower. The tower is squat, in two stages, and it tapers as it rises. In the upper stage, on the west and south sides are lancet bell openings. Its roof is pyramidal, and on its north side is a stair turret. On the apex of the gable at the east end of the nave is a crucifix

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. The entrance is on the south side of the church through an arched doorway. To the left of the entrance is a two-light, square-headed Perpendicular window and to its right is a two-light Decorated window with Victorian tracery. The windows in the chancel also have two lights, those on the north wall being square-headed, and those on the east and south walls having pointed heads.

Interior

On the south side of the chancel is a piscina and a recess that formerly contained a tomb. On the north side is a 14th-century

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

of a figure thought to be that of Margaret Marlos. It is broken into three pieces, which is said to be a reference to her being cut into three pieces by robbers. It was placed in the church in 1902. Also in the church is an early Christian stone slab dating from the 5th or 6th century. It is carved with Ogham and Roman inscriptions. The oak altar dating from 1882 is "elaborately not to say wildly carved" with representations of flowers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llandawke, Saint Odoceus 13th-century church buildings in Wales Grade II listed churches in Carmarthenshire

English Gothic architecture in Carmarthenshire Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches