Church of St Catwg

The Church of St Catwg is a parish church, likely dating to the 18th century and incorporating earlier fabric. It comprises a west tower, a nave with a south porch and north aisle, a slightly narrower chancel, a north vestry, and an organ chamber. The church is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings, topped by a stone slate roof with shallow coping, terracotta ridge tiles (decorative in the chancel), and apex crosses.

The two-story tower features an embattled parapet with a string course and small gargoyles. Below are small, paired arched, louvred belfry lights; a clock face is present on the south side, with a supporting string course. Smaller square lights are situated in the tower chamber, with a further plinth string course at the base. The west elevation reveals the former line of a steeply pitched porch roof, and a pointed, chamfered opening with broach stops, now unused due to the significantly lowered ground level, is surmounted by a relieving arch. A southwest window comprises two trefoil-headed lights. The south porch has kneelers, a wide four-centred, chamfered arched doorway with broach stops, and lacks side windows. Inside, it features a flag floor, stone benches, and a renewed barrel roof. An earlier pointed, chamfered doorway with broach stops and voussoirs is also present. The south nave has three windows with narrow trefoil-headed lights, with a triple-light window either side of the porch and a four-light window to the southeast, intended to illuminate a former rood screen. Buttresses with offsets separate the two easterly bays, and a monument to William Phillips (died 1807) is attached to the southwest wall. The chancel has two smaller, similar two-light windows and a blocked priests’ door to the south; the east window is a three-light design with geometric tracery, set beneath a hoodmould. 18th and 19th century slabs are set against or attached to the chancel wall, and a similar two-light window is located on the north chancel side. A later vestry, attached to the northeast, has matching windows. The north nave features two two-light windows, one left unrestored, with similar buttresses; one overlaps a blocked arch. A low-pitched roof covers a later northwest wing, with matching windows, offset to the tower above.

The interior has been stripped of plaster. The tower has a vaulted rubble roof, benefaction boards, and a single bell from 1760, cast by William Evans of Chepstow. A glazed screen provides an opening to the tower chamber. A tiled baptismal pool, installed in 1866, is located inside the west door, alongside a plain octagonal font, and an oval monument to Thomas Williams (died 1782) is affixed to the wall. A Celtic cross, originally from Capel Gwladys, was brought here in 1906 and is situated against the west wall, with the village stocks nearby to the northwest. Nave pews have doors. A narrow, moulded, pointed chancel arch, lacking capitals, is present; a blocked former doorway to the rood screen is visible on the north side. The chancel has an elaborate wooden roof with windbraces and scissor trusses, dating to the 19th century. A monument to the Rector, Revd Gilbert Harris (died 1879), who restored the church, is located in the sanctuary. This brass depicts a priest carrying a model of a church (possibly Pontlottyn). A tablet commemorates Edward Lewis. A mosaic reredos is dedicated to Eleanor Harries (died 1871), and wooden chancel panelling incorporates a piscina with a copper backplate. Stained glass is present in the chancel east window (1867, by Clayton and Bell), in the south nave windows (1895, by R J Newberry), and in the north nave window (later 20th century, by Frank Roper). Numerous wall monuments, mostly from the mid-19th century, are also present.