Church of St Garmon

The Church of St Garmon is a building of Perpendicular style, largely dating from the 19th century. It was rebuilt in 1846, funded by F.R. West and grants from the Society for the Enlargement, Building and Repairing of Churches and Chapels and the Diocesan Society, to accommodate 212 people.

The church is constructed of random grey stone with dressed elements, roofed with reconstituted grey clay tiles. It consists of a west tower incorporating a porch, and a combined nave and chancel. The building has splayed angles with quoins, a high plinth with moulded coping, and raised copings to the gables with kneelers. Perpendicular-style windows are set within yellow sandstone surrounds, featuring segmental-pointed heads containing bar tracery and cinquefoiled lights.

The three-stage west tower supports a short slate-covered spire with a weather vane. The lower stage has splayed angles; the middle stage is stepped-in, with broached angles and continuous octagonal upper stage, which has battlemented parapets. A moulded square-surround doorway faces west, leading to double boarded doors under a segmental-pointed arch with infilled spandrels, protected by a relieving arch. Small single lights are located on the north and south sides of the lower tower stage, while the middle stage has two-light windows on the west, south, and north sides. The upper octagonal stage has two-light belfry openings on all four sides. The north and south sides of the nave and chancel have three bays, again with Perpendicular-style three-light windows. The east end features a five-light window under a segmental head, with a plain diamond tablet to the gable and a cross finial to the apex. The splayed angles of the west end incorporate tiny rectangular lights across two storeys, with further small openings immediately flanking the tower at gable level.

The interior is a single-chambered nave and chancel, with a five-bay roof. Collar trusses are supported by straight braces. The central aisle is flanked by panelled box pews, and a gallery extends along the west end. The gallery’s front features late 17th- to early 18th-century turned balustrading, possibly from an earlier church on the site. A later wood-panelled sill supports the balustrading and displays a painted inscription detailing the 1846 rebuilding and funding. The gallery contains three tiers of benches, a 4-centred archway now glazed at the rear, and a modern staircase on the north side. Panelled double doors beneath the gallery provide entrance to the church. A stone bowl font with traceried panels is located to the southwest of the nave. At the east end, turned altar rails mirror the gallery front, flanking recently reconstructed square wood-panelled pulpits; the southern pulpit may have originally been a reading pew. Four small wall tablets are present, commemorating Phoebe Hughes (d. 1884) and the poet John Ceiriog Hughes (1832-87), alongside a stone tablet in memory of Phyllis Storey of Glan Dwr (d. 1987), who funded the late 20th-century restoration.