Church of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a late medieval church with 19th and 20th-century additions, situated in a village setting. The church is constructed of stone rubble, with parts whitewashed. The north aisle is of coursed rock-faced stone with ashlar quoins and plinth. Slate roofs extend over the gables. The tower is short, with a high battered plinth, a slightly battered shaft, and a battlemented embattled parapet. A blocked west doorway, an earlier blocked pointed window, and plain rectangular bell openings are visible on the tower’s west side. The west bell opening is also blocked. The parapet rises in steps at the northeast for a stair tower corbelled out low on the north side. The south wall of the nave contains two 2-light windows dating to the 19th century, each with a quatrefoil head, and a blocked doorway below the left window. The east wall is slate-hung. The chancel features a three-light 19th-century east window with trefoil tracery, a single light to the south wall, and a blocked 19th-century window in the north wall with a brick head. Some blocking in the east wall's lower portion, situated between brick piers, may indicate the former presence of a vault, dating to the early 19th century. A gabled vestry, built in 1924 on the south side of the chancel, is constructed of tooled grey stone with reused 19th-century stonework for its south window and a 1924 door on its east side. The north aisle has 19th-century pointed windows; two 2-light windows to the east and west, and a three-light window to the right and a single lancet to the left of the north wall. These windows are generally decorated in an early Decorated style, with hoodmoulds (except on the nave’s south side) and stone voussoirs. The tower’s 15th-century pointed arch is visible on its doorway. The door on the nave’s west wall has been blocked. The nave has a coved plaster ceiling with a large panel, from the early 19th century. A three-and-a-half bay arcades of round piers resting on high bases, and a pointed chancel arch are also present. The chancel has a boarded wagon roof, also dating to the 19th century, while the north aisle has an exposed timber roof. A pointed door in the chancel’s south side, leading to the vestry, may be ancient. The church contains pine stalls from 1869, oak stalls from the early 20th century, a reredos and panelling from the early 20th century, and an organ and pulpit, dating back to 1935. A 19th-century octagonal font is also present. Notable memorials include a 19th-century memorial to Thomas Jones of Johnstown, by D James of Carmarthen, and an early 18th-century marble memorial to John Vaughan of Court Derllys. A further 19th-century memorial commemorates the Edwardes family of Rhydygors, alongside a memorial to David John Edwardes of Rhydygors. Plaque commemorate Magdalene Bateman (d. 1833) and Elizabeth Edwardes (d. 1842). Stained glass windows include work by Celtic Studios (dating from 1952, 1960, 1969 – in the nave’s south side and the chancel’s lancet) and a window by John Petts (1974, located in the north aisle).