Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a Grade I listed church comprising a single-chamber nave and chancel, with a west bellcote and south porch. The building is constructed of large blocks of random stone, whitewashed, beneath a slate roof with raised stone copings and kneelers.

Exterior

The windows, mostly replaced in the 18th century, feature moulded stone mullions and flat heads with quarry glazing. The gabled porch projects to the left of centre and is also topped with raised stone copings and kneelers. The entrance is set beneath a cambered head of stone voussoirs and contains an early boarded door with iron hinges and studs, bearing evidence of painting. The porch has a two-light window to its left and a three-light window to its right. A small single-light window to the far right has a segmental head with hollow moulding and is medieval in date, though its jambs have been rebuilt.

The east end displays a 17th-century three-light window in Perpendicular style with a round-arched head. The left-hand side of the north elevation is supported by a large late 20th-century stone buttress, with eaves projecting over it in catslide form, obscuring a small window that lit the chancel. To the right of this is a round-arched doorway with a monolithic stone head containing a boarded door, possibly rebuilt in its original position. To its left, lighting the nave, is a three-light mullioned window of 18th-century date, which replaced an earlier, narrower window. Further to the right are two window openings, blocked in the early 18th century, one at high level. A raked half-dormer with a three-light window lights the gallery. The rebuilt west end features a wide gabled bell-cote and a former three-light window reduced to a single light, with the outer lights infilled with stone.

The single-bay porch has chamfered purlins with ogee stops and stone side benches. The south doorway, probably in its original position, has a replaced shallow-pointed arched head and contains an early boarded door with iron hinges decorated with chevron work, studs, and engraved roundels. One of the door jambs is dated 1617. A further inscription in the porch reads 'EI CHW 1664', whilst a collar truss reads 'GW 1702', likely reflecting the reroofing of the porch.

Interior

The interior features an undivided nave and chancel with a gallery to the west end. The nave has a six-bay roof, partly restored with new wood during the 1974 restoration. The two bays over the gallery were altered in the 17th to 18th centuries and are divided by a collar-beam truss. The remaining four bays have a 15th-century arch-braced roof with diagonal struts above the braces. Cusped windbraces are present except to the west bay; the second brace from the east has a dentilled soffit. Two rows of purlins sit on a wooden wall-plate. The floor is of flagstone.

The furnishings are predominantly 18th-century, with some panelling reused from the 17th century. Irregular box pews occupy the north side, some displaying fine Jacobean decoration; the central pew is inscribed 'I. H. 1711' and relates to the Hughes family of Gwerclas. Open wooden benches line the south side, interspersed with a wood-panelled triple combination of pulpit, reading desk, and clerk's desk, partly reused from earlier furnishings. A font, set into the wall to the left of the porch, is described as a tall bowl of late medieval date. A large west gallery is reached by spiral stone steps in the northwest corner, with seating on simple wooden benches of 18th-century date and an enclosure. These benches were primarily for the choir, and a fine pyramidal music stand is present. The wood-panelled gallery front has a moulded handrail and is plastered on its outer side. Beneath the gallery is a cross-beam with medium chamfer, supported to the left by a tapering stone pier, possibly the base of a former preaching cross.

The chancel is ceiled by a 15th-century canopy of honour, though only a small portion of the original survives. A fine 18th-century wooden altar rail with turned balusters and a wood-panelled reredos are present. The panelling continues around the southeast angle of the chancel, forming a small boxed enclosure with a door reading 'The Rector 1841'. A bench dated 1768 sits to the left of the altar. To its left, on the north wall, is a small pointed-arched door to a cupboard, inside which is a narrow blocked light, said to have been a squint. Box pews continue from the nave into the chancel; one has an arched head to its rear and reads 'W. J. Cefn Cymer, 1759'. The east window contains a small area of stained glass at the top depicting flowers, flanked by Welsh decalogue boards.

Wall Paintings

The interior contains a particularly fine series of wall paintings executed in at least eight overlapping phases. The north wall includes a depiction of a bishop with hagiography to the rear, possibly representing Jerusalem, which is 14th-century and Flemish-influenced. Scenes to the left are probably 15th-century, including a figure thought to be St Christopher. To the left of the porch on the south side is another 14th-century scene including a human head. A wild beast depicting one of the Seven Deadly Sins is situated to the right of the pulpit, above which are letter inscriptions of around 1600. Two further beasts are also visible. One of the clearest paintings is on the north wall adjacent to the gallery front: a figure of Death of 18th-century date. The plastered gallery front is decorated with classical-style roundels with a blind arch between them and biblical references, also 18th-century in date and painted by George Pritchard.