Church of St Stephen

Church of St Stephen

This is a Grade II* listed church comprising a 19th-century nave and chancel, with a south aisle beneath a lower-pitch continuation of the nave roof, a south porch, a vestry at right angles to the chancel, and a medieval west tower.

The medieval tower stands approximately 15 metres high, constructed in a mixture of stones predominantly limestone. It is battlemented with strong battering at its base and features two massive low buttresses on the west side, between which sits a 19th-century window. A medieval sanctus bellcote is formed beneath the battlements on the east face, with an arch spanning between two merlons. Stone water spouts project from the north and south faces. A string course runs at the base of the parapet. Twin belfry lights appear on all four faces, with slit lights below; the western slit light has a trefoil head. Traces of limewash remain visible on the north and west faces. A clock dated 1912 is mounted on the west face.

The body of the church is built in the 19th-century Perpendicular style, constructed in sneck-coursed grey limestone with a pecked finish and yellowish sandstone dressings. Plain nave buttresses support the walls. The building is finished with coped gables carrying crosses over the east gable and corresponding bases over the east gable of the nave and the gables of the vestry and porch. Slate roofs feature bands of contrasting colour on the south slopes. The east window comprises three lights with bar tracery. Other windows are of two or three lights with cinquefoil heads and Tudor label moulds, with relieving arches in the masonry above. The vestry has a similar single-light window to its east, beneath a gable. The porch entrance features an outer arch of open form with double chamfer and label mould terminating in crowned heads; quatrefoil lights sit to either side. The vestry door is equilateral in form.

The church interior is accessed via the south porch, which has a flagged floor and exposed roof timbering. The nave is spanned by braced high-collar-beam trusses and is separated from the south aisle by a four-arch arcade supported on round columns. The chancel and vestry stand two steps higher; the chancel is finished with a pointed barrel ceiling. The chancel and aisle arches are of two orders, the chancel arch carried on short corbelled columns. A chancel screen was removed in 1928.

The nave contains a fine Jacobean-style pulpit dated 1635, octagonal in form and two panels high. The upper panels feature abstract carving, while the lower panels display allegorical figures separated by crouching figures above and herms below. The panels represent Faith, Justice, Watchfulness, Mercy and Prudence, each set within round-headed arches. The pulpit is said to have been brought from Lleweni. A fine medieval parish chest, iron-bound with three locks, also survives in the nave, along with an octagonal font that was re-carved in the 19th century.

The chancel is paved with patterns in coloured tiles. The east wall is tiled as an extended reredos spanning its full width with returns to north and south, executed in patterns of coloured and encaustic tiles. A lettered tile frieze at the top bears text from John 15:13, with a mosaic centre cross flanked by mosaic alpha and omega symbols.

Wall memorials include a list of rectors and charitable donors at the south door and three 20th-century brass plaques on the north wall. A memorial to John Mostyn (1671) appears over the pulpit, featuring a broken pediment with arms. A chancel memorial to the Reverend E Hughes (1850) is composed of a broken column with garland and an inscribed base. The west wall of the nave bears memorials to Elizabeth Eyton (1813), with an urn above an inscribed and bracketed tablet; to Thomas Eyton (1837), in ornate Grecian style; and to Ann Hughes of Wern, Denbigh (1840), featuring a draped urn and acanthus consoles.

The east window was created by Clayton and Bell in 1866, commemorating Mrs Barrett of Pontruffydd, and depicts Christ with scenes of charity. A window by Burlison and Grylls to Elizabeth Mesham of Pontruffydd (1909) appears at the east of the north side. Another Burlison and Grylls window to Margaret Elizabeth Mesham (died 1873), depicting a scene of charity, is located at the west of the south aisle.