Church of St Barrwg

Church of St Barrwg

This church comprises a nave, lower chancel, west tower, north chapel (now vestry) and south porch. The original fabric is rubble masonry, though nineteenth-century rebuilt areas are of roughly coursed stone, with slate roofs throughout.

The Tower

The squat four-stage tower dates mainly to around 1300 and is characterised by a pronounced battered plinth and saddleback roof. Narrow coursed stone forms the plinth and angles. The original west doorway sits beneath an almost flat head of narrow raked stones, with a keystone to the centre probably added later. The doorway itself is round-arched with slight shoulders, set in a surround of grey Sutton stone and containing a twentieth-century planked door. Above this is a window opening with a similar relieving arch of narrow raked stones. The window has a slightly pointed arch and Y-tracery, though the very narrow stone blocks suggest possible replacement. A small stairlight serves the third stage, and a nineteenth-century rectangular louvre opening sits above in a heavy stone surround. The east side of the tower features a similar louvre opening. The south side displays narrow rectangular lights to the first and third stages, and a nineteenth-century louvre opening at the top with heavy dressing and a trefoiled head beneath a relieving arch. The north side has matching openings, though without the first-stage stair light.

The Nave

The south wall of the nave is slightly battered. A porch positioned to the left of centre has been heightened, with the original roof line still visible. The doorway has a slightly pointed arch of narrow voussoirs, with raised coping on kneelers. To the left of the doorway is a stone tablet with sill. The porch is flanked by single trefoiled lights containing trefoiled tracery. To the east is a three-light window with intersecting tracery and trefoiled heads. Further east, at high level, is a blocked rood light in a heavy square surround with hoodmould. The north wall of the nave has similar windows to the centre and east, with a small rectangular light to the west.

The Chancel and Chapel

The south wall of the chancel contains a single trefoiled light. The east end is of two spans, with the north chapel being slightly lower and narrower than the chancel. The north chapel and parts of the chancel east wall have been rebuilt in coursed stone. A three-light east window with intersecting tracery and trefoiled heads sits beneath a hoodmould with head bosses. A similar two-light window serves the east end of the chapel. To the right is a nineteenth-century doorway with pointed arch and hoodmould, containing a planked door. To the left of the east window are two oval stone tablets: one dedicated to the Reverend Edward Hyett (died 1771), and a second surmounted by an urn with foliate bosses, dedicated to James Price of Bedwas house and his family (a second memorial to them exists inside the church). Graves abut the east end, with that to the left containing the raised tomb of James Price within iron railings. A slab on the ground reads 'to vault'. A truncated stack stands at the west end of the chapel.

Interior

The nave and chancel are divided by a simple pointed arch, possibly of nineteenth-century date. A panelled wagon roof covers the nave. The chancel features an arched brace roof with closely spaced braces; above the altar is a ceilure. Two wide arches of a former arcade in the north wall of the chancel have segmental heads and chamfered jambs, both now infilled—the western one containing the door to the vestry. A wood-panelled reredos stands behind the altar.

The high pointed tower arch has been concealed by a later wall, though its apex remains visible. This wall contains a pointed doorway with a wood-planked door. The tower is accessed by wooden steps without risers leading to the upper stages. The south wall contains two large irregular recesses, one with a very small light, possibly for a former staircase. The porch has an arched brace roof and stone benches to the sides.

A round Norman font with cable moulding around the base sits on a later circular base and shallow square plinth. The nave contains twentieth-century benches. A polygonal wooden pulpit of nineteenth to twentieth-century date stands to the northeast on a stone base.

Monuments and Memorials

Nineteenth-century marble wall memorials, mostly square or rectangular with entablatures and sometimes urns above, line the church. A large panel with colonnades and decorated entablature is dedicated to James Price of Bedwas House (died 1811) and other family members, erected by Maria Price of Cardiff. These were the ancestors of Dr William Price. Opposite is a memorial to Charles Price. A panel on the south wall is dedicated to John Rees Morgan, aged 19, interred in a vault in the burial ground with other family members. Other nave memorials commemorate members of the Davies family of Ty Isaf, Ty Gwyn and Glyn Rhymney. A cartouche in the shape of a shield honours Watkin Watkin (died 1854), former vicar of the parish, and was created by E. Davies of Cardiff. In the chancel is a marble cartouche in memory of Edmund Lloyd, a surgeon (died 1806). Above the tower arch is a wooden memorial to those who fell in the Great War. A gold plaque in the recess next to the north chapel entrance is dedicated to J. T. Richards, who also died in the Great War.

Stained Glass

The east window contains stained glass depicting the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection, dating to after 1889 and dedicated to the rector of the parish. The south window of the chancel depicts a man in prayer (Faith). Two further stained glass windows in the south wall of the nave date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.