Church of St Tyfodwg, Llandyfodwg - Glynogwr

The Church of St Tyfodwg in Llandyfodwg is a building of group value, dating from the 13th or 14th century with substantial alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The tower and north wall are constructed of uncoursed rubble, while the rebuilt south nave wall and chancel are of coursed stone with limestone dressings, all covered by a slate roof. The church consists of a chancel, a nave with a west tower, and a south porch. The nave has two and three-light trefoil-headed windows; the chancel has a large, moulded south door, a two-light 'low-side' window, cusped windows, and a well-detailed, three-light Perpendicular style east window. An arch is blocked on the south side of the nave at the east end. The tall west tower has a deep crenellated parapet supported on a corbel table, a depressed-headed west door, and two-light windows with labels. An inscribed sundial from 1769, with an iron gnomon, sits above the slightly chamfered outer arch of the porch. Two monuments are built into the exterior walls: one round-topped, commemorating John William of Glynogwr, who died in 1797, and another taller slab, illegible except for the date of death 1728.

The 19th century saw the rendering of the walls. The interior features a three-bay chancel with a boarded timber vault and 19th-century arch-braced trusses with carved square bosses. A narrow niche on the east wall holds a nimbed figure of St Tyfodwg, holding a pastoral staff and a model of the church. The east window displays an internal hood mould sculpted as male and female corbel heads. A carved softwood, octagonal pulpit stands nearby, alongside an organ originally of barrel construction, by J W Walker of London, transferred from Ystrad Mynach.

Near the entrance stands a font with an octagonal bowl set on a broached base, likely dating back to the 14th century. The church houses three bells from 1720, cast by Evan Evans of Chepstow, hanging in their original frame. Several monuments are present: a remarkably carved relief effigy in the chancel floor, depicting a pilgrim with symbols representing journeys to the Holy Land, Rome, and Compostella, possibly from the 13th or 14th century, and associated with the Abbey of Penrhys. A slate tablet commemorates Mary Tudor of Pantyveed, who died in 1813, alongside details of her husband and later wife. A limestone tablet on the north wall is dedicated to Elizabeth William, who died in 1723. Limestone tablets in the nave commemorate Evan Richard, who died in 1693, Thomas Rees Pritchard of Inisybwt House, Blackmill, who died in 1918, and William Tudor, who died in 1841, the latter represented by a draped urn on a white marble plaque.