The Church of the Holy Cross,

Kilgwrrwg Kilgwrrwg ( cy, Cilgwrrwg) is a rural parish in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located north west of Chepstow and south east of Usk in a network of country lanes running through the rolling hills below the Trellech ridg ...

, Monmouthshire, Wales, is an early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

parish church that once served a now abandoned village. 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 ...

, the church remains an active parish church and is part of the Severn Wye Ministry Area.

History

The writer

Clive Aslet Clive Aslet (born 15 February 1955) is a writer on British architecture and life, and a campaigner on countryside and other issues. He was for many years editor of '' Country Life'' magazine. He is Visiting Professor of Architecture at the Univers ...

, who describes the church as "the remotest (.) in Wales", recounts the legend of the founding of the church, on the spot where two

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, u ...

d heifers rested. The circular churchyard suggests a Celtic, possibly pre-Christian, origin for the site. The present church is early medieval, Cadw suggesting a 13th-century date. The existing features are from the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries. By the early 19th century, the church was described as little more than "a dilapidated sheepfold". A restoration took place in 1820, at the instigation, and mostly at the expense, of a local schoolmaster, James Davies. More extensive rebuilding was undertaken 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 ...

in 1871, and again in 1977-9 (Cadw) or 1989-90 (Newman). At the time of the 20th century reconstruction, the church was named Holy Cross, no earlier dedication being recorded.

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 ...

, the style a mix of Early English and Decorated. It consists of a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, porch 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 ...

. The interior is simple, the chancel having a plain

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

rather than an arch. The church is Grade II* listed, the listing noting it as an "attractive and little altered medieval church from a now deserted village". The churchyard contains an early cross, which is both a Grade II listed structure and a

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. It is the only complete churchyard cross remaining in Monmouthshire. The church has one bell by the William Evans Foundry of

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...

Notes

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilgwrrwg, Holy Cross Grade II* listed churches in Monmouthshire History of Monmouthshire Church in Wales church buildings in Monmouthshire 13th-century church buildings in Wales