Kilgwrrwg ( cy, Cilgwrrwg) is a rural parish in Monmouthshire, south east

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 ...

, United Kingdom. It is located north west 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 ...

and south east of

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

in a network of country lanes running through the rolling hills below the

Trellech Trellech (occasionally spelt Trelech, Treleck or Trelleck; cy, Tryleg) is a village and parish in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. Located south of Monmouth and north-north-west of Tintern, Trellech lies on a plateau above the Wye Valley on t ...

ridge.

History

The

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

placename element ''cil'' means a corner, or retreat, usually in a religious context, and the settlement name is suggestive of its Celtic Christian origins. In 1811 the parish had a population of 133, and in 1831 it had a population of 113 and 26 houses. Historically the parish was part of the

Hundred of Raglan Raglan (also known as Ragland and Rhaglan) was an ancient hundred of Monmouthshire. It contained the following ancient parishes: * Betws Newydd * Bryngwn *Chapel Hill * Cilgwrwg * Cwmcarfan *Devauden *Llandenny * Llandevenny hamlet *Llandogo ...

and was endowed by the

Diocese of Llandaff The Diocese of Llandaff is an Anglican (Church in Wales) diocese that traces its roots to pre-Reformation times as heir of a Catholic bishopric. It is headed by the Bishop of Llandaff, whose seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Pet ...

. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Kilgwrrwg was home to American war correspondent and novelist

Martha Gellhorn Martha Ellis Gellhorn (8 November 1908 – 15 February 1998) was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. Gellhorn reported on virtually every major worl ...

, the widow of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

Church of the Holy Cross

The Church of the Holy Cross at Kilgwrrwg is one of the most remote

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

es in the UK still in regular use. It can only be reached by crossing two fields and a stream from the nearest house. The church is surrounded by a partly curved churchyard, suggesting a Celtic foundation, and has been described as "the most perfect example of an early Christian site". It is thought to have been referred to indirectly in a charter of about 722, cited in the ''

Book of Llandaff The Book of Llandaff ( la, Liber Landavensis; cy, Llyfr Llandaf, ', or '), is the chartulary of the cathedral of Llandaff, a 12th-century compilation of documents relating to the history of the diocese of Llandaff in Wales. It is written prima ...

''. According to local legend, the location of the church was determined when a pair of heifers,

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 together, were left to wander, and came to rest on a small mound, signifying that the place was divinely ordained for a church to be built there. The churchyard contains a plain short-armed stone cross, impossible to date accurately but thought by some to be pre-

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 ...

and described by others as mediaeval. There is also a stone carving of a head, again thought to be pre-Norman and sometimes described as a female fertility figure, placed in the wall. 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 contains some Early English architectural features, including the walls and a window in 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 ...

. By the early nineteenth century, the building was partly ruined and used as a livestock shelter. According to the local schoolteacher and philanthropist James Davies of

Devauden Devauden ( cy, Y Dyfawden) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is located between Chepstow and Monmouth near the top of the Trellech ridge on the B4293 road. The community covers an area of . The community includes th ...

, ''The great and good; illustrated in six sketches'', Anon., 1855
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"...the little church was in decay; rain and snow penetrated through the roof into the body of the building, and a neighbouring farmer folded his sheep within the walls of God's house. On twelve Sundays in the year, and on those only, was public worship performed in that church; and on those occasions the accumulated filth of sheep and cattle was shovelled out the day before."

Davies encouraged the local residents to pay for the re-roofing of the church. It was further 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 ...

around 1871, and a porch,

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 ...

and windows were added at that time. Further restoration work was carried out in 1989/90. It 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 ...

Other buildings

Kilgwrrwg House is a hall house of the early sixteenth century, with a massive chimney stack of later date. The house is of architectural and historical interest. The small hamlet of Kilgwrrwg Common is located about one mile from the church. Great Kilgwrrwg Farm is also located in the vicinity.

References

External links

Holy Cross church, Kilgwrrwg

{{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire