Parish Church of St Cynwyl

The Parish Church of St Cynwyl is a largely medieval building, with significant Victorian additions and alterations, situated within a rural setting. The church is constructed of rubble with slate roofs, with a stone-tiled slope on the north side. Timber soffits and barges are also present. The building comprises a nave and chancel without structural division, a south aisle, and a broad west tower.

The west tower has a battered base below a stringcourse and a corbelled embattled parapet. A rectangular stair turret projects to the northeast. Belfry windows of two lights with chamfered jambs and pointed heads are situated on each side of the tower. A small loop window is located on the east wall, and a chamfered pointed lancet window is present on the north wall. A two-light Perpendicular mullion window with a label, chamfered jambs, and trefoil lights is set into the west wall. The C19 west door is framed by light sandstone and features a boarded door with strap hinges.

The north wall features three 3-light Perpendicular-style windows dating from 1891, built of purple sandstone with trefoiled lights. An eroded, early inscribed stone, readable in 1878 as "Regin Filius NV (V) Inti", is built into the wall's lower right section. To the left is a railed Dolaucothi family vault, with a plaque affixed to the church wall noting its construction in 1815. The east window to the chancel is pointed with Perpendicular Bathstone tracery, and was likely renewed in 1858. The east window of the aisle dates from the 15th century, with simple panel tracery in grey sandstone.

The south elevation mirrors the north, with three square windows in Bathstone, probably renewed in 1858. A low, chamfered 4-centred doorway from 1891, with purple sandstone dressings and a drip, is located on the left. The west window of the aisle retains its original 15th-century form: a square 3-light mullion window with a label, trefoiled lights, and grey sandstone dressings.

Inside, a 4-bay arcade from the 15th century is defined by slightly pointed plain arches on square piers. The church contains a small octagonal font of red sandstone, with a chamfered underside leading to an octagonal pedestal with corner stops. A moulded square base, added in 1891, supports the font, and a modern plinth is also visible. The west tower porch possesses a pointed stone vault. A square red sandstone stoup, acting as a self-feeding font, is set into the south wall. A narrow, chamfered door to the stair turret in the northeast corner is characterized by a pointed head and diagonal stops. Wide boarded wagon roofs with closely-spaced ribs span the nave and chancel, with two dormers to the south nave, each featuring a stone square 3-light window. A crenellated timber wallplate is also present. A 1891 Perpendicular piscina is located within the building. A doorway above the east tower arch likely provided access to a former gallery. The church includes 1891 pitch pine pews and choirstalls, featuring long panels of open cusping. A timber polygonal pulpit, standing on a Bathstone base and steps, is adorned with open tracery on its upper panels. The chancel’s east window displays late 19th-century decorative colored glass. Timber screens from 1891 create a vestry at the west end of the aisle, and a half-glazed screen of similar date spans the east tower arch.

Numerous monuments are present, including a memorial to Lt James Beek (1875) by W.M. Thomas of London, featuring a bust in a roundel. Memorial tablets to William Lloyd (d 1786), John Bowen (d 1814), William Morgan (d 1838), and the Baskerville family (1845) are neo-classical designs by J Thomas of Brecon. C19 tablets commemorating the Johnes family of Dolaucothi are located on the chancel’s south side. Early 20th-century tablets, including a memorial from 1918, and a Gothic tablet to H and M Davis are also present.