Church of St Cynllo

Church of St Cynllo

This is a neo-Norman style church built in 1792, comprising a nave and chancel under a single roof, with a south porch and west tower. The walls are constructed of rubble stone, with Bath stone dressings that were introduced during alterations in 1881. The roofs are behind coped gables on moulded kneelers, set above a moulded stone cornice. They are tiled with four graded bands of fish-scale tiles, and 19th-century iron rainwater goods are retained.

Windows and doors throughout the building are round-headed and mainly incorporate nook shafts with scallop capitals. The south porch has wooden gates and a corbel table. The south nave door is boarded with strap hinges. The south wall features a single window to the left of the porch and two windows to the right. The east window has three stepped round-headed lights with thin shafts. Below and to the right of this window is a grave slab to Thomas Lloyd (died 1817).

On the north side of the chancel, set back from the east end, is a vestry under an outshut roof. Its north window comprises two round-headed lights, and its boarded west door is beneath a shouldered lintel. The nave has three north windows similar to those on the south wall.

The three-stage tower has angle buttresses in the west wall, but set-back northwest and southwest buttresses in the north and south walls. The west doorway was remodelled in 1881 with nook shafts and hood mould; it has a boarded door with strap hinges. An added lean-to is on the north side. The middle stage has a small, narrow south window. The bell openings are round-headed and fitted with wooden louvres. A raised band sits beneath an embattled parapet.

The interior of the nave and chancel features a seven-bay roof with corbelled trusses incorporating two tiers of arched braces. The two bays forming the chancel also have similar intermediate trusses. A round arch exposed at the west end of the south wall is probably a window from 1792 that was blocked in 1881. The round tower arch has nook shafts with scalloped capitals and is infilled, partly by a wooden screen and doorway. The east window has a rere-arch with similar shafts and capitals and a disc frieze to the arches. The reredos consists of blind arcading with shafts and scalloped capitals, chevron and roll-moulded arches, and tympani with gold-painted diaper patterns. An aumbry is mounted on a wall shaft in the north wall. A round arch to the north vestry is part infilled and has a wooden screen and doorway.

The 19th-century font has a square bowl with a scalloped underside, decorated with roundels containing IHS, a dove, Alpha and Omega, and a cross, with cable moulding to the rim. The round stem is supported on a square base with foliage moulding to the angles. Pews are plain, and the choir stalls have open arcaded fronts. The polygonal freestone pulpit features mandorla-shaped panels with symbols including Chi Rho and IHS. The communion rail has iron uprights with scrolled brackets supporting a wooden hand rail.

The church contains several wall monuments. In the nave north wall is an alabaster inscription tablet to Daniel Reid (died 1827) below an urn. A memorial to John Davies (died 1812) and family, by Jennings of Hereford, comprises an inscription panel with foliage apron and entablature surmounted by an urn. A small simple inscription panel to Ben Michael (killed 1917) is by B. Lloyd of Rhayader. A brass plaque commemorating Thomas Humphreys (died 1900) is by Cawthorp & Sons of London. In the nave south wall, a memorial tablet to Elizabeth Davies (died 1827) by B. Jennings is flanked by consoles and surmounted by a sarcophagus. Two inscription tablets by Thomas of Brecon are on the same background slate and commemorate Morgan Evans (died 1802) and his son Morgan Evans (died 1829). A memorial to John Evans (died 1798) has an inscription panel and apron with heraldic shield, surmounted by a draped urn. In the north wall of the tower is an inscription panel with pediment to Charles Powell (pre-1836) and a small oval tablet commemorating Lewis Morgan (died 1798).

Most windows contain stained glass depicting Biblical scenes. The east window shows the principal events in the life of Christ, including the Nativity and Crucifixion. In the chancel north and south walls, dated 1887, are figures of Christ with Mary Magdalene. In the nave south wall are Jesus with Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus (dated 1895) and Christ with Disciples at the sea of Galilee (post-1900). In the nave north wall is Christ healing the sick (dated 1897) and Christ blessing a woman in Jerusalem (not dated).