Church of St. Tyssil

Church of St. Tyssil

This is an Early English style church comprising a nave, south tower and spire, chancel, vestry and north aisle. The building is constructed from snecked grey masonry with sandstone dressings, roofed with banded slate and red ridge tiles. A plinth with a string course at sill level runs around the building, topped by moulded sandstone eaves. Angle buttresses with offsets project from the corners.

The tower rises in three stages and is surmounted by a broach spire. A semi-octagonal stair turret with a hipped roof occupies the north-east angle; it is lit by two string courses and flat-topped rectangular lights. The porch is integrated into the lowest stage of the tower, with a pointed-arched entrance containing two orders of chamfered mouldings beneath a quatrefoil. The archway is crowned by a raked hoodmould with foliate end stops. Angle buttresses with offsets and gabled copings support the tower. The first stage has a plain lancet on the west side. The second stage contains two plain lancets to the west. The third stage features louvre openings to the east, south and west faces, each containing two lancets in plate tracery separated by a colonnette. Above the louvres is a perforated crucifix. Projecting sandstone quoin strips rise above the buttress level on the third stage, with a Lombard frieze beneath the eaves. A clock is mounted on the south face of the spire.

The west end displays two windows of paired lancets with a quatrefoil above each, and a cinquefoiled light in plate tracery above these. The south side of the nave contains three windows in plate tracery, each of two or three lights with quatrefoils, cinquefoils or circles above. The chancel has two similar windows of one or two lights. The east window comprises three cusped stepped lancets in plate tracery with two circles above, set beneath a hoodmould with foliate end stops and a quatrefoil in the apex. The north side of the chancel has a single cusped lancet.

The vestry and north aisle project northwards from the main body, the aisle having a lean-to roof. Both are lit by simple lancet windows, either single or grouped in twos or threes. An ornate projecting doorway provides access to the vestry, framed by a raked coped gable. The opening contains a four-centred arch with sandstone mouldings and ball flower ornament; above the doorway is an IHS motif. To its east is a square-headed doorway to a basement. Both entrances retain plain planked doors.

The interior is ornately decorated in polychrome Gothic style. A four-bay arcade separates the nave from the north aisle, with arches rising from polished red granite columns on heavy pale grey bases with chamfered tops and ringed capitals. The pointed arches feature chamfered mouldings and are constructed from alternate blocks of red and pale grey stone, with a carved angel in red stone at each end. The roof trusses of the nave follow the rhythm of the arcade, rising alternately from the crowns and spandrels of the arches, supported on stone corbels. They consist of arched braces and collar beams, with small open trefoils at the shoulders. On the south side of the nave, trusses rise from between and above the windows. Stone corbels on the north side of the arcade support vertical and raking posts for the lean-to roof structure of the north aisle.

The chancel arch is also polychrome with a pointed head. The soffit is constructed in red stone with chamfered sides, above which pale grey stone carries two orders of chamfered mouldings with ball flower ornament between them. The red hoodmould has foliate end stops. Narrow columns with ornate foliate capitals support the arch. Steps leading to the chancel and altar bear biblical inscriptions on their vertical faces, and further inscriptions from Exodus appear on either side of the chancel arch facing the congregation. The chancel roof is vaulted with square moulded panels and foliate bosses at each corner, infilled with plaster. The wall plates are decorated with quatrefoils and circles among other motifs. The floor is laid in multi-coloured Maws tiles.

The chancel contains a highly ornate reredos comprising cusped arched recesses alternately in red and pale grey stone with foliate decoration. The organ occupies a purposely-built recess on the north side, accessed through a pointed arch with foliate capitals and a crocketed hoodmould. The nave floor is laid in red and black quarry tiles and furnished with pews dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A polychrome font consists of a large bowl on foliate capitals with a red column on a sandstone base. A semi-hexagonal pale grey stone pulpit has black marble columns at the angles, each face containing a recessed quatrefoil with white marble foliate decoration on a red stone background. A stoup in the north-east corner of the nave is dated 1802 on its base; four columns support a small ringed bowl.

The chancel windows contain stained glass, notably the east window depicting a crucifixion scene. A stained glass window in the nave is dedicated to Gertrude Foulkes, who died in 1876 aged twelve. Stone memorials commemorate Isaac and John Pugh, who died in 1778 and 1784 aged twelve and fifteen respectively. A marble monument honours Charles Jones of Fronfraith, who died in 1809. A plaque near the door remembers Richard Edward Jones of Cefn Bryntalch, who died in 1917, and elsewhere is a memorial to L.O.W. Jones of Cefn Bryntalch, who died in 1918.