Church of Saint Dogfael

Church of Saint Dogfael

This parish church is built of rubble stone with imitation slate parallel roofs. The plan comprises a nave with a western bellcote and a chancel, with a south aisle and south porch.

Exterior

The south aisle west end has an eroded 19th-century ashlar two-light pointed window with a quatrefoil in the head, hoodmould and stone voussoirs. The south side features a porch to the left and two small two-light 19th-century flat-headed windows with plain pointed lights. The south porch was refronted in the 19th century with an ashlar chamfered pointed arch, coped gable and cross finial. A reset stone over the entry is dated 1814. The porch interior contains an arch-braced collar truss and a segmental-arched south door with a boarded door, possibly of the early 19th century.

The south aisle east end has a coped gable and a two-light 19th-century window with a quatrefoil in the head, hoodmould and stone voussoirs. A rainwater head dated 1872 stands between this gable and the chancel. The chancel coped east gable has a similar three-light 19th-century east window with ogee tracery and three quatrefoils. The chancel north has a dated downpipe of 1872 and a small 19th-century two-light flat-headed window with ogee tracery, positioned to the right.

The nave north wall has a battered base and two two-light 19th-century windows with plain pointed lights and stone voussoirs, with an older, possibly early 19th-century, pointed window above the second window. A straight joint before the west end indicates that the west wall and bellcote are either rebuilt before the 19th century or added later. The west end has a crude 19th-century stepped pointed three-light window and a gabled rubble stone bellcote with two rough pointed openings.

Attached to the south aisle is an iron-railed Sealyham burial enclosure with spearhead rails on a low stone coping and cast-iron urns to stanchions. Various memorials are located here, including those of Mary Tucker of Cledde (died 1835) and the Reverend William Garnon (died 1756).

Interior

The interior has whitewashed plastered walls. A two-bay grey stone arcade separates the nave from the aisle, with another similar two-bay arcade between the chancel and aisle. The arches are hollow moulded and four-centred, of late medieval character, with thin round piers with chamfered caps and bases. The nave pier has a rope moulding below its cap. Chamfered responds with plain capitals include a nave east respond with an eroded carved head on the north side and a small niche on the south side of the west respond. The chancel arcade has eroded stops to the hollow mouldings, mostly shields, with one on the north side of the centre pier showing a diagonal cross and one to the north side of the east respond with a reversed shield and three-armed device. The east respond bears crude carving on its capitals of a human-faced beast. A whitewashed plastered pointed chancel arch has sides stepped in. A segmental arched tomb recess is set in the south aisle.

A 12th-century square scalloped font tapers below to a round shaft.

Roofs and fittings date from the 1870s. The nave has arch-braced collar trusses with cusped struts above, while the chancel has heavier arch-braced trusses on corbels. Plain pitch pine pews and pulpit are by Lingen Barker. North-facing pews in the south aisle, possibly a family pew, have older panelling to the wall. An altar rail has four twisted iron standards with ornate scrollwork. An early 20th-century well-carved altar table with reredos and panelling commemorates the Reverend A. Richardson (died 1911), with matching lectern of circa 1920, similar to work by Edwin Thomas of St Davids, some of which was designed by J. Coates Carter.

Stained Glass

The east window, dated 1906, depicts Christ, Saints Peter and John in a 15th-century style, by R. Newbery. Eroded glass of circa 1878 fills the south aisle end windows. The east window shows "Suffer the children" and "Take up thy bed," by Alexander Gibbs, commemorating T. Tucker Edwardes (died 1877). The west window bears "Go thou and do likewise," signed C.A. Gibbs, commemorating Alexander Cope (died 1874).

Memorials

The chancel west wall has a painted plaque to the Reverend J. Jenkins (died 1815) with ornate lettering, signed J. Jas. f.cu (probably J. James of Llanychaer).

The south aisle south wall contains five memorials: (1) a fine Baroque memorial in carved Bath stone to John and Grace Tucker (died 1740), with draped sides, broken pediment, shield and cherub head below; (2) a memorial to J. Owen Edwardes of Treffgarne and Llanmilo and his wife Catherine Tucker, by Tyley of Bristol, in sarcophagus shape with draped urn, given by Mary Tucker in the 1820s; (3) a memorial with mourning female and urn to John Tucker of Trellether (died 1794), dated to the 1820s, given by Mary Tucker; (4) a sarcophagus plaque with draped urn to Mary Tucker of Cledde, Camrose (died 1835), designed as a near pair to the J.O. Edwardes memorial by Tyley; (5) a mourning female to W. Tucker Edwardes (died 1858) by Gardner of Leamington.

The south aisle east wall holds three further memorials: (1) a plaque to Admiral Thomas Tucker of Hook (died 1766), given in 1827, in marble with urn; (2) an oval plaque with draped urn, dated to the 1820s, to Maria Tucker (died 1755) and Ann Tucker (died 1782); (3) a plaque with similar urn, also from the 1820s, to Thomas Tucker (died 1807), both given by Mary Tucker.

The nave north wall has plaques to Thomas Morse and family, dated circa 1855, signed T. Jones, and to Joseph Madocks of Broadmoor (died 1860), given by his landlady, Mrs Tucker of Sealyham.

Additional Features

A plaque on the south exterior commemorates Elizabeth Evan (died 1768).