St Paul's Church

St Paul's Church is a mid-19th century building constructed from rubble with sandstone dressings, featuring steeply-pitched slate roofs with decorative ridge-tiles and overlapping coping stones to gable parapets. Diminutive cusped gablets sit at wall-plate level. The church has set-back, stepped buttresses and a continuous moulded plinth.

The west end is marked by a stepped and gabled bellcote with a plain Celtic cross and a 4-centred-arched bell opening. Two narrow lancets flank a tall central stepped buttress. A carved stone cross crowns the east gables of both nave and chancel. The south porch is steeply-gabled and surmounts a similar cross. Its pointed-arched entrance carries roll and dog-tooth mouldings with bell capitals and shafts featuring moulded bases. The label mould includes foliate carving to the stops. The inner arch is stopped-chamfered with a contemporary plain iron gate featuring trefoil decoration. Squat trefoil lights to the porch sides are splayed with triangular inner arches. A plain chamfered entrance door has decorative ironwork and counterchanged red and black tiles to the floor. Flanking the porch are two further lancets, the left one with a small boarded door beneath for the sexton's store, and a 2-light ogee-headed window to the right. Three similar lancets appear on the north side of the nave.

The stepped-down chancel features a continuous moulded string course that steps up beyond a stepped buttress to the east and continues around the east end and north side. Two smaller lancets with cusped heads and foliate-stopped labels stand to the left of the buttress, with a wider window towards the east end. The east window is a later replacement of plain design with 3 lights and 3 oculi, its moulded label stopped with carved heads. A contemporary vestry adjoins the north side with similar detailing and an entrance to the east gable featuring a boarded door with ironwork and foliate stops to the label. A plain chimney rises from a corner buttress at the north-west; a later brick boiler lean-to extends from an extruded corner.

The interior comprises a 5-bay aisless nave with an arch-braced collar truss roof. The long chamfered braces are carried on decorative corbels springing below wall-plate level. Windows are splayed with 4-centred arched heads. The church contains simple contemporary grained pine pews, a plain octagonal font, and a quarry tiled floor. Good figurative stained glass throughout dates from around 1895.

The early 20th century rood screen and pulpit are executed in Arts and Crafts Perpendicular style in memory of Charles E. Jones-Owen of Hengwrt Ucha. The upper section features open tracery with carved bosses to the cornice showing the Instruments of the Passion. The dado incorporates linenfold and plain panelling. To the north, a pulpit projection repeats the decorative scheme and has a carved foliate cornice. Beyond this is a carved dedication inscription in Welsh in raised lettering. Two carved trumpeting angels flank the entrance to the stepped-up chancel, standing on carved foliate corbels with tracery canopies above.

The chancel has a scissor-truss roof and stained glass as before, with the east window being especially fine. A plain mosaic floor with Welsh inscriptions and decorative symbols lies in front of the raised altar. Plain oak choirstalls, a post-War reredos, and altar frontal complete the chancel furnishings. A fine marble mural monument on the north wall commemorates the Reverend Evan Charles Owen, first incumbent, created by J. Edwards, sculptor of London, in 1868, and depicts an angel in relief holding a palm branch. An arched entrance with oak door and ironwork on the north leads to a small vestry.

St Paul's Church is a restrained, well-balanced mid-19th century building notable for its interesting roof design and its good early 20th century rood screen.