Church of Saint David

Church of Saint David

This small parish church is built of rubble stone with concrete tile plain tiles to the roof and coped gables. It comprises a single cell with a western bellcote and a stone-tiled western porch.

The bellcote projects slightly on a small coved moulding and contains two restored pointed openings beneath an ashlar gable with a cross finial. One bell is said to be dated 1666 and was renewed in 1897. The porch has a coped gable and a 19th-century cross finial. It is entered through a double-chamfer pointed arch with a hoodmould, the ashlar of the arch pieced into the stonework behind, suggesting substantial alteration. The porch contains a two-bay restored double-purlin roof with horseshoe windbraces and two chamfered arch-braced collar trusses, the timber old but perhaps reset.

The stonework of the walls appears largely 19th-century in date. Stone seats line the interior, and there is a slit window to the south side. An inner door of 19th-century date has chamfered jambs and a moulded pointed head. The outer doors are 19th-century with wrought iron hinges. In the porch is a damaged medieval stoup with a cusped trefoil head, possibly from the 14th century, and a broken base. Also in the porch is an eroded late medieval cross-gabled coping stone. Outside the porch is a reset grave slab of 1756 to P. Matthias.

On the south side, to the left of centre, is a plain square-headed two-light stone window with shallow recessed chamfered surrounds and leaded lights. To its right is a late medieval two-light Perpendicular window with a flat head and ogee heads to the lights, and a deep hollow-moulded frame. This window closely flanks a rood-stair projection which has stone tiles and a small recessed single light to the upper right with a flat head. Beyond this is a narrow chancel door with a Tudor arch, chamfered with broach stops, and a Perpendicular chancel two-light window with a flat head, ogee heads to the lights and a hollow-moulded frame. The east window, dating from around 1500, is much restored and consists of a recessed three-light opening with a four-centred head, ogee heads to the lights and panel tracery. All the late medieval windows are constructed in red stone.

The chancel on the north side has a 19th-century two-light window, while the nave on the north has a similar three-light 19th-century window in Perpendicular style, both executed in grey stone.

The nave and chancel are under one roof. The walls are plastered with 19th-century ashlar rear arches to the windows. The west door has a cambered head to its rear arch, with stone voussoirs. The roof is curved and panelled with moulded ribs and foliate bosses; the timbers are much restored or wholly renewed. The boarded panels measure eight by sixteen units, and the original moulded wallplates remain, though broken between the nave and chancel.

A rood screen, dating from the 15th or 16th century, is similar to those at Kemeys Commander and Bettws Newydd. The original rood beam bears sawn-off ends of rood-loft supports and a slot in the top for a post to support boarding. The top moulding has been renewed. Two heavy chamfered posts to the centre have remnants of attached piers with crocketted finials. Six traceried panels on each side have renewed tracery dating from 1877. A narrow door to the former rood stair is Tudor-arched and much renewed. There is no stair within, nor any sign of upper access to the loft. The chancel south door has a chamfered single-stone head. A small medieval piscina in the chancel, close to the floor on the south wall, has an ogee head with a shelf within. The east window has a moulded arch dying into the jambs.

The font is hexagonal with malt-shovel panels to the chamfered underside, a hexagonal stem and a circular base, similar to that at Bettws Newydd. Bench pews date from around 1877. A timber pulpit has a three-sided front with incised 19th-century style carved panels. Later 19th-century iron communion rails are present. The windows contain attractive later 19th-century patterned quarries except for the east window, dating from around 1865, which commemorates Marie Prichard (died 1855) and depicts three scenes from the life of Christ and three angels in quatrefoils above.

A fine baroque monument to Charles Hughes of Trostrey Court (died 1676) is executed in timber, stone and alabaster. It comprises a plaque in a timber bolection-moulded surround set upon an alabaster plinth, with two timber columns supporting a rich cornice with reversed curved pediments and a cartouche between. A moulded stone sill below is gadrooned. A plaque commemorates Richard Reece (died 1758). Another plaque commemorates John Sandford of Trostrey Hill (died 1842), created by Wood of Bristol.