St David's Church, Llangeview, 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 ...

sited in a round churchyard adjacent to the junction of the

A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of th ...

and

A472 List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European isla ...

roads to the east of the town 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 Monmouthshire, Wales. It has been designated by Cadw as a Grade I

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 ...

. It is Grade I listed because of its "exceptional interior" including a 15th-century rood-loft and "rare pre-Victorian

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...

s and fittings". The church stands in a churchyard that is almost circular, and is surrounded by a bank and the traces of a ditch.

History

The first record of a church on the site is in 1254. However the present church dates mainly from the 15th century and it was probably originally dedicated to Saint Cyfyw. The Monmouthshire author and artist,

Fred Hando Frederick James Hando MBE (23 March 1888 – 17 February 1970) was a Welsh writer, artist and schoolteacher from Newport. He chronicled the history, character and folklore of Monmouthshire, which he also called Gwent, in a series of nearly ...

, records this dedication in his ''Journeys in Gwent'', published in 1951. It was declared redundant in 1999. 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 holds 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 19 November 1999. Since then repairs have been carried out to the exterior.

Architecture

St David's is constructed in stone

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

and has stone tile roofs. Its plan consists of a

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 ...

and

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 ...

, with a west porch. On the east

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

is a cross finial, and on the west gable is a

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 bellcote has two triangular openings; the bells were dated 1598 and 1688, but only one of these was still present by 1999. On the south side of the church are three windows in

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

style; there are no windows on the north side. The east window has three lights. At the east end of the nave on each side is a

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

, and there is a

Tudor arch A four-centered arch is a low, wide type of arch with a pointed apex. Its structure is achieved by drafting two arcs which rise steeply from each springing point on a small radius, and then turning into two arches with a wide radius and much lower ...

ed door on the south wall of the chancel. The church has a "remarkable unrestored interior with 18th-century fittings". Its floor slopes downwards from the west. The walls are plastered and

whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

ed; the pointed chancel arch is also plastered. The frame and the front of the loft of the original 15th-century rood screen are still present. The architectural historian John Newman records this as an "important

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 ...

survival". There is a set of pre-Victorian box pews. These include a large squire's pew, above which is a monument to William Jones who died in 1829. The pulpit is five-sided, and the communion rail is supported by turned balusters. There are stone benches along the east wall and a small, damaged

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 ...

in the south wall. The font is square on a square base. On the floor of the nave and the chancel, and on the north wall, are memorial slabs.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Llangeview, Saint David 15th-century church buildings in Wales Grade I listed churches in Monmouthshire Former churches in Wales English Gothic architecture in Monmouthshire Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches