Church of St Cynhaearn

The Church of St Cynhaearn is a church dating from the early 19th century, exhibiting group value. The walls are constructed of rubble masonry of long, flat stones, with the nave and east chancel wall rendered. The roof is modern slate. The church comprises a short nave, north and south transepts whose roofs are pitched below the nave eaves, and a small chancel. Entry is through a west door featuring a simple pointed arch and framed and battened doors. Tall, two-light transomed windows are set in timber to the nave, including to the west gallery, and transepts; however, there are three lancets at the east end. A stepped west bellcote is present.

The interior is plain and distinctive, with walls plastered above a timber dado. It is believed that behind the present 19th-century segmental plaster vault are three medieval arch-braced trusses. The floor is stone flagged, with an unusual painted decorative floor in the sanctuary.

The church contains a good range of early 19th-century fittings. A limestone font, with an octagonal pillar erected in 1900 by Robert Isaac Jones, is among these. A three-decker pulpit from 1832 features an octagonal top reached by nine steps, set against an architraved and corniced backboard; a lectern and reader’s desk occupy the lower stages. Box pews flank the altar, which is raised one step behind an oak sanctuary rail supported by iron stanchions. Tall, skeletal pews, named on their ends, occupy the nave, and six rows of tiered pews are found in the north transept. A western gallery, erected in 1832 under Rev John Jones, is supported on slender, quadruple-shafted columns, with a dentilled cornice and panelled front, and is reached by a winding stair at the back of the nave. Six steeply raked pews are positioned either side of the organ, which is also of around 1830 and features a fine Gothic case.

The east window, dated 1900, is a memorial to Isaac and Louis Walker. The north transept window depicts St Cynhaearn and St David, serving as a memorial to Robert Isaac Jones, [Alltud Eifion], who died in 1905.

Monuments are located throughout the church. On the chancel north wall are limestone Gothic aedicule to Lt Col Isaac Walker of Hendregadredd; a white marble tablet, by Gaffin of London, to Isaac John Walker; and a white marble panel and slate to John Williams and his wife Louisa Walker. In the north transept, there is a marble tablet, by Simpson and Malone of Hull, to Capt Thomas Jones. Within the vestry are two engraved slate stones to Henry Griffith and Jane his wife, and to John Vaughan and his wife. Additional items include five 18th-century bound religious works, two early chests, and a good carpet.