St Mary's Church is a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

place of worship near

Llandovery Llandovery (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 road, A40 and A483 road, A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and w ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was formerly the parish church of

Llanfair-ar-y-bryn Llanfair-y-bryn is a Community (Wales), community and Church in Wales parish in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Covering an area of some 95 km², it lies along and to the northwest and southeast of the A483 road, A483 Swansea to Chester road immedi ...

but was replaced in that function by a new church in a more central location. The present building dates from the 12th century. It has a large churchyard and is situated on a small hill to the north of the town. It was designated 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 ...

on 3 August 1966.

Building

St Mary's was built inside

Alabum The rectangular enclosure that defined this Roman fort was built in the 70s AD as part of the campaign to integrate southern Wales into the Roman province of Britannia Superior. It lay on a key road, now known as the Sarn Helen (RR69), from the ...

, a Roman fort, on top of Llanfair Hill. A

monastic cell A cell is a small room used by a hermit, monk, nun or anchorite to live and as a devotional space. Cells are often part of larger cenobitic monastic communities such as Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Orthodox Christian monasteries, as well ...

from around 1126 was already on the site before building commenced. It is one of the largest medieval churches in the county, and has a substantial tower at the west end with a square stair-tower on its northeastern corner. The church is built of rubble stone with plain tiles on the roof. Earlier dressings are mostly in red sandstone, while nineteenth century dressings are in

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

. The nave and chancel are directly connected to the tower, to the porch on the south side and to the vestry and organ chamber on the north. The hymn writer William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791) is buried in the churchyard, where there is a memorial to him. The church was designated a

on 3 August 1966, as an example of "a substantial medieval church with intricate history of building and change from the C12 to the C16, with fine W tower and high degree of survival of medieval architectural features". The

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. ...

curates the archaeological, architectural and historic records for this church. These include a file of information concerning wall paintings, colour transparencies and black and white postcards. In summer 2023, stone paving slabs from the historic pathway in the churchyard between the

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

and the church's entranceway were stolen by thieves. Due to the costs of maintaining the ancient building, the vicar said this was "the last thing" the church needed.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 52.00123, -3.79340, format=dms, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title

Llanfair-ar-y-Bryn Llanfair-y-bryn is a Community (Wales), community and Church in Wales parish in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Covering an area of some 95 km², it lies along and to the northwest and southeast of the A483 road, A483 Swansea to Chester road immedi ...

Llandovery