Church of St Gwynhoydl

The Church of St Gwynhoydl is a parish church, largely constructed of rubble stone with some large boulders, and covered by slate roofs with 19th-century copings and finials. A 19th-century bellcote sits centrally on the west gable. The west front features a triple gable arrangement, with a mid-19th century two-light window and hoodmould above the nave, along with traces of a blocked west doorway. The east front also has a triple gable design, containing three fine, deeply-set Perpendicular Gothic three-light windows with four-centred arches and hoodmoulds. Straight joints are visible between the nave and aisles. The north aisle’s east window has carved head stops to its hoodmould. The south aisle features a late Perpendicular moulded doorway with a four-centred arch and hoodmould, alongside a three-light four-centred window from around 1850. To the right of this is a small 16th-century flat-headed two-light window with a hoodmould.

Attached to the south wall is a 18th-century table tomb commemorating Griffith Griffiths, who died in 1746 at the age of 93, noting that he lived under seven sovereigns. Also on the south side is a 19th-century table tomb to Francis Lloyd of Nant Gwnadl, who died in 1694 and was renewed by A E Lloyd Edwards of Nanhoron, a descendant. The north aisle incorporates two-light, three-light, and two-light windows dating from 1850, with the centre window replacing a doorway and the right replacing a small loop hole.

Inside, the church has a triple-roofed interior with rubble walls and ashlar three-bay arcades featuring four-centred arches. The north arcade’s elongated octagon plan piers have plain two-way chamfered arches. There are no capitals visible, and an ogee-pointed niche is located on the west face of the east pier. Inscriptions record the construction of the aisle in 1520. The south arcade is more elaborate, with hollow mouldings to the arches and piers featuring moulded caps and an M-shaped moulding down the diagonal faces. The roofs are five-bay structures featuring four 15th to early 16th century arch-braced collar-trusses, which were repaired in 1850 during a restoration led by Henry Kennedy. The north aisle displays some angle struts and cusping over the collars.

A gritstone font stands within the church, consisting of an octagonal bowl on an octagonal shaft with a chamfered base. Carved sunk relief panels depict a mitred head, a crowned head, a fleur-de-lys, and other patterns. Fragments of ancient stained glass remain in the east window of the nave. An inscription from around 1520 is found on the east respond of the north arcade, stating that St Gwynhoydl is buried here. The next pier carries the building inscription of 1520. Memorial slate slabs in the north aisle are dedicated to Catherine Owen, who died in 1717, and in the south aisle to John Lloydes, who died in 1667. A timber pulpit with open tracery, dating from around 1850, is also present. The pews and floors were replaced in 1963. A later 20th-century ashlar altar, rails, and a tiled sanctuary floor complete the church’s furnishings.