The Church of St Nicholas,

Trellech Trellech (occasionally spelt Trelech, Treleck or Trelleck; ) 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 the souther ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

is a parish church with its origins in the 14th century. The historical and architectural evidence suggests that it was constructed largely in a single building period c.1300. The style is

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

. The church was extended and repaired in the 18th century, and underwent two major reconstructions in 1893 and 1992. An "exceptionally fine and well preserved medieval church", it is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It remains an active parish church in the parish of Trellech and Penallt.

History

The structural, and historical evidence suggests that the church was built in a single period at the start of the 14th century. The writer

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins FLSW (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust f ...

suggests the building was a re-building, following a fire in 1296 which destroyed the original church. The priest's door near the porch appears somewhat earlier than 1300, but the architectural historian John Newman suggests that this "cannot be taken as evidence of Norman fabric". The tower may be of the same period, or somewhat later. It has certainly been rebuilt subsequently, records suggesting it collapsed in a storm. The weathercock is dated 1792. The church was extensively restored in 1893 and again in 1992. It remains an active parish church dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

Architecture and description

The architectural historian John Newman describes St Nicholas's as "one of the finest churches in the county". The church is constructed of

Old Red Sandstone Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, 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 eastern seaboard of North America. It ...

. Simon Jenkins notes that the stone is "so coated in

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

as to seem almost

leprous Leprous is a Norwegian progressive metal band from Notodden, formed in 2001. The group was founded by singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke. After releasing several demos with relatively unstable lineups, the ban ...

. The church comprises a, two-aisle, nave, a chancel, a porch and the west tower. The tower is topped with a spire, rising "from behind a

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a 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/brea ...

". Jenkins suggests that the interior is "handsome but curiously cold"; it was plastered and painted, and a new floor laid, in the 1992 restoration. The arrangement of the

altar rails The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

is "a remarkable survival", following a "Laudian" plan. The church contains a Royal Coat of Arms of Charles II, dated 1683, and a 17th-century sundial, which originally stood in the open air near to the village school and was moved into the church in 1895. Donated by Lady Probert, of The Argoed, Penallt, and dated 1689, it shows three of the main attractions of Trellech; Tump Terret, with the inscriptions MAGNA MOLE ("Great in its Mound") and O QUOT HIC SEPULTI ("Oh! How many are buried here"); Harold's Stones with the inscriptions MAIOR SAXIS ("Greater in its Stones") and HIC FUIT VICTOR HARALDUS ("Here Harold was victorious"); and the Virtuous Well, with the inscription MAXIMA FONTE ("Greatest in its Well"). The church is a

, its

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

report describing it as "an exceptionally fine and well preserved medieval church".

Notes

References

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External links

{{Commons category
The Parish of Trellech and Penallt website
Trellach, Saint Nicholas Trellach, Saint Nicholas Trellach, Saint Nicholas Trellach, Saint Nicholas