Parish Church of St Idloes

Parish Church of St Idloes

The main body of the church is rectangular with five bays articulated by buttresses, a tower at the west end, and a sanctuary projection to the east. A north aisle of four bays adjoins a modern extension at the northwest corner. The church is constructed of rubble masonry with freestone dressings and voussoirs to the windows. The roofs are slate with tiled cresting, overhanging eaves, and a gable parapet and finial to the east end and also to the porch.

The south side features Victorian stepped buttresses and a gabled porch containing a 3-order arched doorway within, the jambs and filleted shafts of which were brought from Abbey Cwmhir. To the right are two windows in almost semi-circular headed openings with mouldings and 3-light cusped tracery. The south wall steps back slightly at the eastern end with two 3-light ogee tracery windows, the left-hand one of which is segmental headed. Dressed quoins to the east end contain a 5-light window with transom and double cusping; a 2-light window opens to the chancel on the north side.

The square west tower is of typically Welsh border style, with a stepped pyramidal roof with boarded belfry and louvred openings; similar openings appear under the eaves to north and south. A weathervane crowns the top. The tower displays a stringcourse (partly broken) and plinth over a massive battered base; a vice tower projects to the northeast angle. The plinth steps up over a Perpendicular west entrance with a low acutely pointed arch and double boarded doors, with a 2-light double cusped window above.

The north aisle has 3-light windows with plainer tracery, three of which are square headed. One doorway towards the east end is octagonal; an rubble chimney stack and steps lead to a boiler room. A 1982 square extension with pyramidal roof projects over the steep slope to the river to the north.

The cement-rendered interior is undivided from west to east and contains a spectacular full-length 19-bay hammerbeam roof dated 1542. The roof features moulded timber trusses and stone corbels (four of which are foliage carved); carved figures with gilded angels and shields adorn the hammerbeams. An encaustic tile floor lies in the chancel. A high octopartite ribbed stone vault covers the tower chamber beyond a pointed rubble arch with a modern screen.

The famous 5-bay arcade originally from Abbey Cwmhir shows the stylistic influence of the West Country School of Masons of the 12th century as seen at Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Abbey. The arcade features compound piers with filleted shafting (except the end piers); 6-order arches with deep hollows and a variety of capital ornament including some stiff leaf and transitional type trumpet capitals. The capitals underwent somewhat irregular reconstruction and follow no particular sequence of development; in some cases they appear to be reset in reverse. The western bay is also slightly narrower. The bases are at varying levels (higher to the east over the sanctuary of the earlier church) and mostly of a vaguely water-holding type.

To the north of the arcade lies the aisle, which contains a 14th-century font, a central war memorial, and a screen of 1956 by Bernard Miller leading to the Lady Chapel altar. A Victorian pulpit and reredos are also present.

The sanctuary east window depicts Christ reigning in Majesty attended by apostles and saints on the upper panels, with lower panels showing scenes from the death and resurrection (Clayton & Bell, 1886). On the south wall beside the door, a window shows Jesus holding open a book with the text "I am the True Vine" and surrounded by disciples arranged to evoke the tree of Jesse (Clayton & Bell, 1935). In the next opening eastwards, the Millenium Window depicts flora and fauna radiating out from primordial chaos (Bill Bleasdale, 2000).

In the north aisle, four windows progress from west to east. The first two show Old Testament figures Moses, Jeremiah and King David, and then apostles St Peter, St James the Great and St John (both circa 1891 of uncertain authorship). The next window depicts St Michael overcoming the Dragon, and the final window shows Welsh Saints St David, St Idloes and St Deiniol (both by Geoffrey Webb, 1932). St Idloes is depicted drawing water from St Idloes' Well.