Church of St Ilan

The Church of St Ilan is an upland church in Glamorgan, likely dating to the early medieval period. It consists of a west tower, a nave with a south porch, and a lower, narrower chancel. The church is constructed of random rubble sandstone.

The nave has a roof of reconstituted stone tiles, dating to a restoration in the 1980s. The chancel has 19th-century clay tiles. A porch is located left of centre, with walls splayed at the base and a rough pointed arch. To the left of the porch is an 18th-century two-light mullioned window. To the right is a round-headed window set within a coursed rubble surround, with the inscription "ME 1762 WI" above it. Further right is a three-light window with round-headed lights, bearing the inscription "WE 1751" above. A shallow, projecting, battered sleeve of coursed sandstone was added in the 18th century to the southeast angle of the nave, incorporating a single round-headed light. The south wall of the chancel has a priest’s door to the left, under a two-centred head and stop-chamfered surround. To the right of the priest's door is a single and a pair of cusped lancet windows. The east window is composed of three stepped lights with cusped heads.

On the north side of the nave is a 19th-century three-light stepped window to the left, with cusped heads and a pointed trefoil in the head of the centre light. In the centre is a blocked 17th-century doorway, under a lintel with a chamfered surround. To the right is a 17th-century two-light mullioned window, with a blocked window further right. The two-stage tower is separated by a string course on the south and west faces, the upper stage being slightly narrower. The west doorway is round-headed and has a 19th-century boarded door. A small turret is located on the southeast of the lower stage of the south wall, with two small stair lights. The south wall has a single small light in each stage; the north wall has a two-light window in the lower stage. The south, north, and east faces feature two-light mullioned bell openings with louvres. An embattled parapet has small pinnacles at the angles.

The low pointed tower arch (likely 13th century) and the round chancel arch are both plastered. The nave has a 19th-century open wagon roof with closely-spaced trusses; the porch roof is similar. The chancel has a 19th-century boarded wagon roof. A blocked doorway to a former rood loft is on the north side of the chancel arch.

An early medieval tub font sits on a 19th-century pedestal. A wooden pulpit and eagle lectern, dated 1891, are a matching pair; the pulpit is octagonal with an open arcaded frieze. The east window and the north nave window are by T. Curtis, Ward and Hughes of London, dated 1899. The east window depicts the Supper at Emmaus, with figures of saints Cattwg, Ilan and Cenydd beneath. The nave window depicts "Consider the lilies." A large south window in the nave is by Frank Roper, dating to approximately 1961. A fragment of early Christian inscribed stone is attached to the north wall of the nave. Various 18th- and 19th-century wall tablets are present in both the nave and chancel, including an oval tablet with a Grecian urn commemorating Edward Jacob (d. 1804).