Church of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a long, low building dating from the 16th to 18th centuries, constructed of rubble stone with a slate roof and raised gables. It comprises an undifferentiated nave and chancel, a north transeptal chapel added later, and a small south porch. A small gabled bellcote tops the west wall, containing a bell dated 1746.

The shallow, gabled porch has an outer open arch extending back to the church wall, finished as a whitewashed barrel vault. The north chapel is built of larger rubble stone, with a coped north gable. A tall north door opening, likely dating from the 17th or 18th century, features a voussoired segmental arch with chamfered arrises and a hood moulding; the door itself is boarded with diagonal bracing above. A two-light window of the 16th century is set into the east wall, characterized by sunk triangular spandrels. The south side of the nave has three windows with late 16th to 17th century voussoired segmental heads, likely contemporary with the north chapel doorway. These windows are constructed with 'long and short' stone jambs and glazed with diamond-leaded glass. A narrow rectangular window is located towards the west on the north side, and another window, mirroring the south side design, is situated at the junction with the chapel. A Gothic-style east window, dating from circa 1871, is a three-light design with a quatrefoil head and hood moulding. An inscribed tablet relating to an adjoining table tomb is set into the south corner of the east wall.

The nave’s roof has seven bays, primarily featuring 19th-century arch-braced collar beam trusses, considered a loose interpretation of 15th-century trusses. Some original timbers are incorporated, although the western truss appears largely original, and there are two tiers of purlins. The eastern bay is covered by a boarded vault. The walls are plastered and feature a boarded dado, which rises around the chancel. A central quarry-tiled aisle leads to a step up into the chancel, with a further step leading to the sanctuary, which has a more decorative encaustic tiled floor. The north chapel, now used as a vestry, retains its original 15th to early 16th century arch-braced collar beam roof of three bays, supporting two tiers of purlins, and with small cusped windbraces. The slate floor is raised one step above the nave.

Fittings include a 12th-century font, consisting of a lobed square bowl set on a shaft with a similarly lobed base. The pulpit, reading desk, and other fittings are from 1871, including a simple communion rail. The east window depicts Christ flanked by St Michael and St Gabriel (1869), a memorial to Edward Owen Pughe. A fine slate panel with moulded sides and cornice arched at the center, featuring a demi-relief urn and an inscription in Latin, is located on the east wall, commemorating Anne Owen, wife of Hugh Owen, who died in 1728. A 18th-century tablet remembers the poor near the entrance door. A small, late 17th or early 18th century oak table with turned front legs, considered the original communion table, is also present. The vestry contains a large and remarkable fabric and stitchwork relief map of the Bro Dysynni, created between 1992 and 1995.