Llanlleonfel Church, Garth

  

Llanlleonfel Church overlooks quite a bleak area, and Theophilus Jones in a "History of Brecknock" suggests that the name of the church was originally 'Llan Lleon Voel' which translates as 'Church upon the bare moor'.  That makes absolute sense to me.

This is another church 'within a landscape', where the sum of the parts is much greater than the building alone.  The nearby  Roman fort at Caerau would have been approached by a branch of the Roman road between Neath and Chester ran nearby, and this road would have been utilised for centuries after the Romans left.  

The church stands within a curvilinear churchyard, and it is possible that the earliest site here began because of the Holy Well nearby (although this was not mentioned in Francis Jones' book on the topic.)  It is a Sulphur spring, and even has a name, being called the Billy Wern spring. The link will show you a photo.

The East end of the church. 

In the wider landscape beyond the church a series of earthworks have been recorded.  There are linear banks, possible platforms and are suggestive of a long-deserted Medieval settlement.  There is an area of ridge and furrow, also suggestive of a former Medieval settlement.  To the S-E of the church is a sunken trackway, which show that there was further settlement in the area.  To the western end of the churchyard "is a univallate rectangular enclosure, 30m x 55m", which could possibly be "a later prehistoric defended enclosure or part of an early medieval graveyard." (Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust).  

Probably the most important event at this church was the marriage of Sally Gwynne to the well known Methodist hymn write, Charles Wesley, which took place in 1749.  John Wesley, Charles' father, often preached in the area and I have written previously of him leaping onto a fallen gravestone at Maesmynis Church to preach to the people.  Wesleyan marriages were not  renowned for being happy affairs, and indeed this one was a very sombre affair, accompanied by much praying and hymn-singing".  One can only imagine the earnest endeavours in the marriage bed!

I was delighted to find that my favourite diariest, Francis Kilvert, also knew Llanlleonfel:

Extract from the Diary of Rev. Francis Kilvert 1840 - 1876:

Wednesday 6th August 1873

This afternoon Mr & Mrs Venables and Mary Bevan and I went by train from Builth Road to Garth to attend the Garth Flower Show, Bazaar and Athletic Sports, all in one.  Mrs Welby was holding the bazaar in one of the tents for the benefit of poor old Llanlleonfel Church now in ruins, but which they hope to get restored.

    While the athletic sports were going on I wandered away by myself into congenial solitude for a visit to the ruined Church of Llanlleonfel. Passing by the quaint old house of Garth, Formerly one of the numberless possessions of the great Gwynne family, I descended by a cart road into the meadows.

    The ruined Church totted lone upon a hill in desolate silence.  The old tombstones stood knee deep in the long course grass and white and purple flowers nodded over the graves.  The door stood open and I went in.  The window frames and seats were gone.  Nothing was left but the high painted deal pulpit bearing the sacred monogram in yellow letters.  Some old memorial tablets bearing Latin inscriptions in remembrance of Marmaduke Gwynne and his family were affixed to the East wall.  The place was utterly deserted, there was not a sound.  But through the ruined windows I could see the white tents of the flower show in the valley beneath.  I ascended the tall rickety pulpit and several white owls disturbed from their day sleep floated silently under the Rood Loft on their broad downy wings and sauntered sailing without sound through the frameless east and west windows to take refuge with a graceful sweep of their broad white pinions in the ancient yew that kept watch over the Church.  It was a place for owls to dwell in and for satyrs to dance in.

    It is long since the Church has been used, though weddings were celebrated in it after it was disused for other services.  Thee is a curious story of a gentleman who was married here.  Some years after his marriage his wife died, and it happened that he bought his second bride to the same Church.  Upon the alter rails she found hanging the lace handkerchief which her predecessor had dropped at the former wedding.  The Church had never been used nor the handkerchief disturbed in the several years between the two weddings.

    We had tea as guests of Mrs Maitland in the old Garth House which with its partly castellated out-walls reminded me of an ancient German Schloes.

The Gwynn memorials, all in Latin to show their status.  Here is Marmaduke, who presented the bell.  Marmaduke seems to be a popular name with the gentry at this time, as the Lloyds also used it.

Looking towards the altar and 3 pretty little stained glass windows (below, closer up).

The font - somehow I missed getting a photo of the bell which had been donated by Marmaduke Gwynn in 1716.

NOW for the early Christian monument which lured me to this particular Church.  This dates to the 6th century, and was not brought into the Church until 1938/9.  I couldn't make it out - just faint lines with MY feeble camera!  Translated, it says "Silent in the shroud, Ioruert and Ruallaun in their graves await in peace the dreadful coming of judgement."

Below are better photographs from "A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones an Stone Sculptures in Wales", Vol. 1 by Mark Redknap and John M Lewis.  A treasured book of mine, along with Nancy Edward's Volume II on South and West Wales.  Volume III is £95 - if you can get it!!  Keith bought me the first two volumes, bless him.  They were worth every penny (as they were NOT cheap, even in 2007, being £70 each!) I have referred to them a lot.

Also unnoticed by me, the incised "cross potent" markings on the side.

This shows the actual Latin inscription and includes the letters which have been obscured. I have spared you the detailed etimology which follows. Now you know where the title of this new blog came from!

I was very drawn to the mound in the centre of the graveyard, where lie, one assumes,  Ioruert and Ruallaun, who were, incidentally, a Brecknockshire king and his son, supposedly killed in battle and buried here.  A yew tree was planted on top, though cut down at one stage has put out regrowth as they are wont to do.  In 1699 antiquarian Eduard Lluyd records two stones standing some 8 feet apart, one of which we may assume was the dedication stone now inside the church.  Two large boulders are still in the churchyard, elsewhere (I missed them as I didn't know they were there until I read further) but their secondary deposition isn't helpful as they were doubtless moved when the church was rebuilt in 1876.

Emeritus Professor Charles Thomas, a lovely man who I was introduced to at a Conference on Insular Art in Cardiff (but sadly no longer with us), also had an interest in this early Christian monument and wrote a book on it which is now winging its way towards me! I just couldn't resist.