The Church of St Bride (or St Bridget) in

Llansantffraed Llansantffraed (Llansantffraed-juxta-Usk) is a parish in the community of Talybont-on-Usk in Powys, Wales, near Brecon. The benefice of Llansantffraed with Llanrhystud and Llanddeiniol falls within the Diocese of St Davids in the Church in Wale ...

near Raglan, Monmouthshire,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, is a parish church of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

origins. The church was restored by

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 ...

and

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 ...

in the 19th century but retains much of its earlier fabric. It is an active parish church in the parish of Llansantffraed, Monmouthshire's smallest parish, and is 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 Ir ...

History

The church has Norman origins with a considerable amount of the fabric remaining. The building date for the

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 ...

is uncertain, but it post-dates the Norman building, and pre-dates the Victorian restoration. Pollard and Seddon worked at the church during 1856–1857, adding the porch in the process. Aside from re-roofing and general maintenance in the 1990s, it has been little altered since. It remains an active church in the parish of Llansantffraed, Monmouthshire's smallest parish. A late-medieval cross in the churchyard has its own Grade II listing.

Architecture and description

The church is built 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 ...

. It is small, with an "oversize(d)" bellcote. The architectural historian John Newman notes the "unforgettable monuments", comprising a series of wall-mounted gravestones dating from the 17th century which record the ancestors of a William Jones, and run back to 1438.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Llansantffraed, Saint Bride Grade II* listed churches in Monmouthshire History of Monmouthshire Church in Wales church buildings in Monmouthshire 14th-century church buildings in Wales