Church of St Mary is a Grade II listed building in the Brecon Beacons National Park local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 28 July 2005. Church. 1 related planning application.

Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
stubborn-pillar-alder
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Brecon Beacons National Park
Constituency
Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP: David Chadwick (LD)
Country
Wales
Date first listed
28 July 2005
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Mary, Cantref, Llanfrynach, Powys, LD3 8LR
OS grid reference
SO 056 254
Coordinates
51.91965, -3.37332
Source
Cadw listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Mary is a stone building with Bath stone dressings, stone tiled roofs, and terracotta ridge tiles, dating from the 1860s. It features a tower, nave, and chancel under a single roof, along with a north porch. The tower is plain, with a pyramid slate roof, a plinth, a chamfered string course just above the plinth, and no door. There are square-headed, chamfered two-light bell openings with louvres, a single light on the south, and two loops on the south and west sides.

The nave and chancel share a roof with a coped east gable. A chamfered plinth steps down at the division between the nave and chancel, marked by a stepped buttress. The north side includes a porch to the right of two plain two-light windows, while the south side has three similar windows with simple cusped lancet lights in Bath stone. The masonry of the left end of the south wall extends over the tower for a short distance, possibly indicating an earlier feature. The north porch, built in 1867, has stone tiles, a coped gable, ashlar flush quoins, a chamfered pointed arch with a hoodmould, and double iron gates. The inner north door is a pointed ashlar design from 1867, with wrought iron scrolled leaf hinges. The chancel has two cusped lancets on each side, and an elaborate three-light pointed window high in the east wall, with a hoodmould and stone voussoirs.

The interior has whitewashed plastered walls and a scissor-rafter roof, supported by four arch-braced scissor trusses, the third being ornamented to mark the chancel. The trusses rest on stone corbels, except for the chancel truss, which is carried on ringed column shafts from the floor. These shafts have foliate capitals, and the columns are reported to be cast iron. A low, broad, medieval or 16th-century purple sandstone door, with a chamfered pointed arch, is located in the tower. The door has a plank design and wrought-iron scrolled hinges. The window reveals are segmental-pointed. There is one step to the chancel, one to the sanctuary, and one to the altar. A seat is found within the chancel's south lancet.

The font, possibly from the 12th-13th century, has been heavily restored and features a round bowl, shaft, and base. A conical 19th-century timber font cover with a metal cross is also present. A painted ashlar pulpit, in a high Victorian style, has four curved fronts with moulded courses and pierced cusped openings (1-3-3-1). Stone steps lead to the pulpit, fronted by a tri-lobe shaft. A brass eagle lectern, dating after 1892, stands nearby, supported by wrought iron scrolled rails with leaf ends. Oak stalls, with pierced cusped openings to the backs and simple kneelers, are complemented by pine open bench pews. A brass memorial is dedicated to the Rev. T. J. Powell, who died in 1864. Stained glass windows include a three-light east window from 1909, possibly by R. J. Newbery, depicting Christ with SS Mary and David. A chancel north lancet commemorates V. Evans, who died in 1887, and a south lancet from 1856 depicts the Presentation.

Local climate

Church of St Mary sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,260 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 82% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 56 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 96% of listed buildings. Of these, 32 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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