St Michael's Church stands in the centre of the village of

Llanvihangel Crucorney Llanvihangel Crucorney () is a small village in the community (parish) of Crucorney, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located north of Abergavenny and southwest of Hereford, England on the A465 road. Setting Llanvihangel Crucorney lies on the ea ...

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 ...

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 designated as a Grade II

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 ...

in 1956 for its historic importance and surviving medieval features.

History

The

Book of Llandaff The Book of Llandaff (; , ', or '), is the cartulary 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 primarily in Latin but also contains a signific ...

suggests the church was founded before the close of the tenth century. The church is said to have been built as the successor to the small chapel of St Michael, which formerly stood at the peak of the

Skirrid Skirrid Fawr ( , ), often referred to as just the Skirrid, is a traditional Christian pilgrimage site and an easterly outlier of the Black Mountains in Wales. It forms the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The smaller hill ...

, a short distance to the south of Llanvihangel Crucorney. In 1542,

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

granted the

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques or via onli ...

of Llanvihangel Crucorney and several neighbouring parishes to the establishment and maintenance of a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

for boys at Abergavenny.

Architecture

The nave of the church is of

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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

origin, though it has since seen many alterations. The base of the tower and the chancel were probably added in the 13th or 14th centuries, and it is likely the tower was extended to its current height and the south porch was built in the 16th century. In 1835 the nave had fallen into disrepair. Instead of being repaired the nave walls were largely pulled down and rebuilt. With them the original oak roof was destroyed and replaced by an extemporaneous roof. The present windows were inserted later that century, between 1887 and 1897. In 1974 history repeated itself as the nave roof was again failing so it was pulled down. This time the church could only afford to partially rebuild the roof so much of the nave remained exposed to the elements until the 2000s when a new roof was built with the help of the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

References

External links

St Michael's Church Llanfihangel Crucorney
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llanvihangel Crucorney Grade II listed churches in Monmouthshire Church in Wales church buildings in Monmouthshire