Church of St. Beuno

The Church of St. Beuno is a Late Decorated church of the 14th century, with a double nave and a chancel that is structurally undivided into three bays. The church is built of rubble masonry, with the west gable walls rendered, and has sandstone dressings. It is topped with a slate roof featuring stone copings, moulded kneelers, and crosses at each gable apex. At the west end, a steeply pitched ashlar bellcote sits between the gables, topped with a cross and containing bells hung one above the other. A vestry is attached to the northwest side of the nave, featuring a tall rubble stack with ashlar quoins. The north and south walls feature windows with cusped reticulated tracery, either two or three lights set into square frames; the south wall’s eastern window has three traceried lights with pointed heads and a plain hoodmould. The west gables have single-light windows with cusped tracery, mirroring the detailing on the north wall of the vestry. The east gables have three-light windows with curvilinear tracery, set within moulded surrounds with hoodmoulds. A pointed-arched doorway with a chamfered surround provides entry through the southwest porch.

The inner porch doorway within the 14th-century porch has a pointed head made of two chamfered orders, with chamfered jambs, moulded stops, chamfered imposts. Each nave boasts a roof with six bays, showcasing exposed rafters and collared trusses. The upper braces are cusped, while the lower braces extend down to wall posts supported by stiff-leafed foliage corbels. A central, 16th-century arcade has four bays of four-centred arches with two hollow-chamfered orders, supported by octagonal piers. The piers have semi-octagonal responds with moulded capitals and chamfered bases. Weathered remains of a 12th-century stone string are visible on the south wall. A re-set 12th-century arch, composed of two decorated orders - the inner with chevrons and the outer with a series of crude animal heads - appears in the west wall. The inner order is supported on plain responds, and the outer on detached shafts with cushion capitals and roll-moulded bases; the abaci are chamfered, and the arch is contained within a moulded label. This arch likely formed the original church's chancel arch and was discovered during restorations in 1840. The south sanctuary is raised by two steps and features a moulded rail on chamfered stanchions with floriate brackets, with an encaustic tiled floor and recessed panelling raised to form a reredos behind the altar. The north sanctuary is also raised by two steps and has a wooden floor, alongside an early 20th-century altar table and a moulded copper panel depicting the Last Supper. The windows are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The south wall of the nave displays 19th-century memorials, alongside 18th-century slate memorial plaques to Richard and Owen Morris (d. 1769 and 1783), and to Henry Morris (their father), Rector of Llanfachraeth (d. 1763). The church also contains two copper collecting shovels, presented in 1777 by Rev. Hugh Williams, Rector of the parish; and each bell bears the inscription 'Charles Carr-Smethwick 1896'.