Church of St Ffraid

Church of St Ffraid

This is a church of mixed medieval and later date, comprising a nave with south porch, north transept and shorter north aisle, with a spire set close to the west end. A diagonal buttress rises at the north-west corner. The north aisle, which includes a section east of the transept serving as a vestry, has a span roof of 19th-century date. A small lean-to boiler room of 19th-century construction adjoins the north side of the nave.

The masonry is varied, incorporating shale, sandstone, and limestone. At the east end and parts of the south side, the masonry is rubbly in character but shows efforts towards coursing. The west wall contains uncoursed grey sandstone with mixed materials (recently restored), while the north aisle, boiler room, and vestry are built in uncoursed masonry of 19th-century character. Much early masonry has evidently been removed for reuse in later walling, creating considerable structural complexity. The north transept has sandstone quoins and is rendered.

The roof is slated, with a slight change of level marking the point where the early nave was extended westward. The ridge is tiled with decorative cresting identifying the extent of the present chancel, and carries a wrought iron cross. Coped gables face east and north. The octagonal spire rises from a square base with belfry slots and a clock to the south; rainwater goods are decorative throughout.

Most windows are of 19th-century date, excepting an important sub-medieval set in the south wall. The east window is late 19th century with three lights (the central wider), featuring Decorated-style tracery and a thin label mould. South of the chancel, the easternmost window is a trefoil-headed ogee-pointed lancet. Adjacent stands a four-light window with horseshoe-form light-heads in a style consistent with and presumably contemporary to the nave window dated 1619, with a simple label mould. Further west are nave windows: a two-light window with mullion and curved transoms; another similar, dated 1703 to the left of the blocked doorway; and a single light trefoil-headed window at the pulpit position. Close to the porch is the window dated 1619 with three lights, signed by John Edwards, who proudly declares "luce meo sumptu fruitur domus illa" (his expense provides light to that house). The gallery dormer contains four restored leaded lights in timber framing. Two doorways exist: the eastern one is blocked, slightly pointed with splayed sides; the present south door is poorly reconstructed, possibly round-headed, and sits within a massive two-bay sub-medieval timber-framed porch, restored in the 19th century.

The west window is much restored, featuring three lights with late Geometric tracery, a relieving arch, and label mould. Above it is a 19th-century wheel window. At the north of the nave the westernmost window is a small Norman light. The north aisle contains two- and three-light 19th-century windows with reticular tracery and small label moulds; the vestry adjoining the nave has a pointed lancet and a window of two ogee-pointed lights.

The north transept is distinctly early Georgian in character, with rendered walls, a coped gable, and prominent sandstone quoins. A string course has been lost. A window above the north door features capped pilasters, a moulded archivolt with keystone, and a sill on flat brackets. The door itself has a voussoir lintel with keystone and prominent quoins in recently restored render, and is of oak with nail-studding. A porch has been lost from this location.

Entry is via the south through a timber-framed open-fronted porch paved with former headstones, with two memento-mori stones displayed against its side walls. The ancient and reconstructed doorway contains a fine oak door with three panels, hinges below cover battens, heavy internal framing, and a wooden bolt.

The west part of the nave around the font is clear of pews; the font is a bowl type on a restored pillar. The main nave and north aisle are filled with pews in two banks. A panelled dado runs along the north and south sides. A 19th-century arcade at the left has octagonal columns; two bays of arcading also run along the sides of the transept. Black and red quarry-tile paving covers the floor. The roof comprises five facets with timber ribs and plaster panels. At the west, the gallery is boxed in as a ringing chamber. At the east stands a good 19th-century rood screen, with an organ (Foster and Andrews, 1883) to the left and a Jacobean pulpit to the right.

One step rises to the chancel, paved in black and white stone quarries. Jacobean-style choir stalls and prayer desks occupy this space, the latter featuring dated panels at front, 1624 and 1630. Other Jacobean and Georgian wainscot has been reused as a dado in the chancel and sanctuary. A brass chandelier dated 1808 hangs here. Georgian Communion rails with balusters and double gates stand within. A piscina is set at the right, with one of the windows encroaching upon it; an aumbry is positioned at the left.

Monuments range from the 18th to 19th centuries. At the left in the chancel is a fine memorial to Hannah, wife of the Reverend W Worthington (1800), by Nelson of Shrewsbury. Also by Nelson is a memorial to John and Ann Bill (1796, 1797) at the right of the chancel. An engraved brass to the Reverend Griffith Lloyd (1696) bears painted lettering on a wooden frame. Behind the right prayer desk stands a bilingual Gothic brass to the Reverend R H Matthews (1888).

The stained glass is varied. The east window depicts Christ the King with St Bride and St David. Other windows include an early Victorian medallion of the Raising of Lazarus in the lancet window south of the chancel, dated 1847 by David Evans. The larger window beside this, by Curtis, Ward and Hughes, is a memorial to the mother of William Morris Hughes, Labour Prime Minister of Australia, unveiled in 1921 by Mrs Lloyd George. The south window closest to the door commemorates the Great War. A modern baptismal window in the west lights the area around the font.