Hodgeston Parish Church is a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a "closed church", is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused church ...

in the village of

Hodgeston Hodgeston is a small village and parish a mile southeast of Lamphey, south Pembrokeshire, Wales, and is in the Community (Wales), community of Lamphey. It is on the A4139 road, A4139 Pembroke Dock to Tenby road. Other surrounding villages are Fre ...

, some southeast of

Lamphey Lamphey ( cy, Llandyfái ) is both a village, a parish and a community near the south coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, approximately east of the historic town of Pembroke, and north of the seaside village of Freshwater East. The 2011 census re ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as 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 ...

, and is under the care of the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As of April ...

History

The

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 ...

is thought to date from the 13th century, while the

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 ...

was added during the following century. The tower was built at a later date. At the beginning of the 19th century, the church was described as being "in extreme disrepair". In 1851 the

Cambrian Archaeological Association The Cambrian Archaeological Association ( cy, Cymdeithas Hynafiaethau Cymru) was founded in 1846 to examine, preserve and illustrate the ancient monuments and remains of the history, language, manners, customs, arts and industries of Wales and the ...

decided that it should be restored, the architect David Brandon was appointed to do the work. The present windows were added as part of this restoration, but many of the internal features were preserved. This restoration was "intended to be a model for future church restorations". The church has no recorded dedication. The church was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

with the

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2000, who hold a 999-year

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

with effect from 17 December 2000. The charity has introduced into the church a set of stalls originally designed by W. D. Caroe for St David's Church, Exeter.

Architecture

The church is constructed in local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with slate roofs. Its plan consists of a nave with a south porch, a chancel, and a west tower. The chancel has a roof at a higher level, and is described as being "rather large in proportion to the rest of the church". The massive tower was "unusually slender" for the era, and is in four stages. On the north face of the tower is a stair

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

. In its lowest stage is a 19th-century double west window over the remains of a former narrow window. There are double round-headed bell openings in the top stage, and at the summit of the tower is a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

supported by corbels. In the north wall of the nave is a blocked doorway. The chancel measures by . It has a cornice decorated with ballflowers. Along its south wall is a bench, a double

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

dating from the 14th century, and a triple

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

; these are decorated with ballflowers,

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...

s and leaf finials. The carving is of high quality, and was probably paid for by Henry de Gower,

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, ...

. The chancel is floored with

encaustic tile Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inla ...

s. The restored east window is in Decorated Gothic style; the other windows in the chancel are in simpler style. The nave measures about by and it contains a

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 ...

font. The ground floor of the tower is used as a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. The bells date from the 15th and 16th centuries.

References

{{Reflist Grade II* listed churches in Pembrokeshire Former churches in Wales English Gothic architecture in Pembrokeshire Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches