St Tydfils Church Llysworney

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St Tydfil News

St Tydfil’s Project Presentation
At a well attended meeting of Llysworney residents on 30th November the St Tydfil’s Church Project Team presented it’s ideas and initial plans for the refurbishment of the village church.

Mr Martin Hurst chaired the evening and began by welcoming the villagers and giving a general background into the formation of the church project team.

Jeremy Rawlins as Rector’s Warden then elaborated on the reasons behind the idea of making the church into a community space whilst still maintaining it first and foremost   as the community’s place of worship and spiritual centre of the village. These ideas had been expressed at the village AGM in May.

This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation given by Mr Kevin Sutton the   church architect which led into an interesting question and answer session where people freely expressed their views, worries, or points of concern.

The Rector brought the evening to a close expressing his thanks to all those who had been involved in planning the presentation and by encouraging people to view the plans which are currently on display on boards in the church tower.

A short history and description 2007

By Penny Snowden

This parish church is dedicated to St Tydfil, a female Celtic saint of whom nothing is known for certain. It is interesting that this church has this dedication, as she is generally associated with the Merthyr (martyr) Tydfil area and not the Vale of Glamorgan.

The first mention of the church to be found is 1173 as a possession of Tewkesbury Abbey. However, the presence of an early Christian monument, possibly a lintel (now embedded in the stonework of the external south wall), suggests that it may have been a pre-Norman foundation. Llysworney appears to have been the centre of the pre-Norman cantref of Gwrinydd. The church is next mentioned as a chapel of Llaniltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) in 1180 when it still belonged to the Abbey of Tewkesbury. The churchyard is recorded on the tithe map of 1840 as being surrounded on all sides by lanes or alleys. The original churchyard cross does not survive.

Llysworney had close ecclesiastical associations with Llantwit Major – the incumbents of the latter from early times to the present century held the living here. Nicholas of Llysworney was Dean of Groneath in 1246 but there is no further mention of the church until 1535 (Valor Ecclesiasticus) when it was classified as a ‘vicarage’ worth £4 7s. 5d. In 1771 (Bishop Barrington’s Llandaff Diocesan Book) the value of the living was included in the same valuation as Llantwit Major, amounting to £90; the church was served by the Revd Mr John Carne for Joshua Powell.

Llysworney was joined with the parish of Llandow in 1921 and with Colwinston in 1970 to form a grouped benefice. In 2006 the three parishes were united.

The Building
Constructed in lias limestone rubblework; the dressings of the pre-Victorian openings, where present, are in sandstone with the possible exception of the West window, and the Victorian openings in Bath stone. The church consists of chancel, central tower containing a single bell, nave, south porch and modern vestry on the north side of the chancel. It has an unusual appearance for the tower is not as wide as the nave, but is built flush with it on the north. The broad pointed arch from nave to tower is not on the same axis of the nave, but considerably on the north side of it whilst the acutely-pointed arch from tower to chancel is still further to the north. This results in a very restricted view of the sanctuary from the nave. As a result of the deviation a side squint under appointed arch has been placed in the cancel wall. At one time, according to David Jones of Wallington (a noted antiquarian), there was a second squint now blocked up. It would appear that the unusual shape of the church was actually part of the original Norman design.

Of particular note
Piscina– in the south east corner of the sanctuary is a pillar piscina with Norman cushion capital embedded in a recess. These are usually only found in pre-reformation structures. A piscina is simply a drain to take away the water used to wash the communion vessels and the celebrant’s hands during the celebration of the mass. This would originally have been free-standing but has been subsequently embedded in a recess.

Corbels– you will see that the open oak roof of the chancel rests on six massive stone corbels. Some of the corbels have been copied - you will notice that different colour. The original roof would have been much heavier and necessitating this large size.

Tower – the square tower is massive with a corbel table just below the parapet. It has narrow slit-loopholes at various levels and the belfry has a two-light round-headed louvred window on its north and south faces. A doorway with pointed arch leads form the chancel to the Victorian vestry on the north side of the chancel from which a doorway in its west wall leads to a turret-staircase on the north side of the tower which in turn leads to the upper chamber or belfry. The north and south belfry windowsare of 16th century type and probable date the heightening of the tower which seems originally to have been lower than the apex of the present nave roof.

Bell – the tower houses a large pre-reformation bell which bears the inscription ‘SANCTE PETRE ORA PRO NOBIS’ (St Peter Pray for us) and was probably cast by John Gosselin of Bristol between 1449 and 1453. There were originally three bells in the tower (see later under Victorian Restoration).

Font – is mediaeval and is large in size, which is indicative of this era.

Altar rail– is late 17th century.

Inscriptions
On the south side of the arch between the nave and tower is an inscription which records the death of Henry Williams in 1720. He was the grandfather of the Revd Thomas Williams, Headmaster of Cowbridge Grammar School 1766-1783. He seemed to have had a strong affection for the church for three of his children who died in infancy are buried here and in his will he directed that his own body should be ‘interred as deep as may be in the same grave as my three children in the church of Llysworney’.

Let into the north supporting arch of the tower is picturesque stone carved with the symbols of birth, life and death inscribed ‘underneath lyeth y Body of Wenllian William who dyed ye 30 June 1732 aged 100.’

Carne memorials – on the north wall of the nave you will see several tablets to th Carne family of Nash Manor. One of them is to John Carne (d.1762) who claims lineal descent from Iddyn, King of Gwent.

Windows
The east window is of three lights with trefoiled heads, the central one higher than the other two. The exterior of these lights is surmounted by a common hood mould. The window depicts the Resurrection of Our Lord and beneath in the centre panel is the coat of arms of the Nicholl-Carne family. The window was erected in 1908 as a memorial to John Devereux Vann Loder Nicholl-Carne (d. 1905) by his widow from a design prepared by A L Moore of London.

Roper window – (nave north side) Frank Roper of Penarth, who is better known for his work as a sculptor, designed this modern stained glass window depicting Christ the King and Christ the Good Shepherd. The window is a memorial to Haydn Williams (d.1971) and was erected in 1972 by his wife and daughter.

West window – has two round-headed lights and square label representing ‘Valour’ in the left-hand light and a soldier receiving a crown in the right-hand light. Inscription – ‘Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life’. This window is a memorial to those men of the parish killed in the Great War.

Changing Times
Llysworney was a poor agricultural parish and it appears that the last documented occasion on which church was considerably repaired and reseated was in 1774 when faculty was granted to sell two bells, which ‘since time immemorial’ were broken and useless too provide new seats and pews in the church. Records show that a considerable sum was spent repairing nave and tower.

Victoria Restoration - 1894: Rebuilding and restoration of church.  In 1890 the ‘Church Builder’ reported – ‘this church is now in a very dilapidated state. The tower requires thorough repair and a new roof over the nave and chancel in addition to renewing all the windows. It is at present almost the only one in the Vale of Glamorgan which has not received a thorough restoration beyond necessary repairs in the course of this century’. 

In 1894 new roofs were raised over the church, all defective walling pulled down and rebuilt and new floors laid down. Old-fashioned square box pews were removed and replaced with open benches of red deal, and a new pulpit erected. A new vestry was constructed on north side of chancel and turret staircase built on north side of tower, leading from vestry to belfry. Several windows were renewed, constructed of Bath stone, and all re-glazed. Soil, which had accumulated on south side of church, removed to prevent dampness in church. The cost was £1k. It was re-opened after restoration on 6 June 1894.

Orrin comments – ‘as John Newman says the work of restoration carried out in 1894 was insensitive. The architects restored the church simply as a work of reparation and reconstruction without any coherent plan as to what form the restoration should take as a result the old medieval church was transformed into a heterogeneous structure of differing styles of architecture, including Early English, Tudor and nondescript Victorian Gothic represented by the mustard-coloured Bath stone.’

In 1997 the church underwent extensive repair, funded by the sale of the School House, adjoining.

In 2007 the pews were removed from the tower area and a re-ordering took place to create a more user-friendly and adaptable area.

Sources
Orrin G 1988 Medieval Churches of the Vale of Glamorgan
The Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust Historic Churches Survey 1997
Orrin G Church Building and Restoration in Victorian Glamorgan

St. Tydfil’s is one of three parish churches - with Holy Trinity Llandow and St. Michael and All Angels Colwinston, which comprises the parish of Colwinston with Llandow and Llysworney. The Rev Peter Leonard is rector of all three parishes. As well as being incumbent of the three churches Peter is Warden of the Retreat House of Ty Teilo (adjacent to the Rectory) and also Area Dean. His wife Tyann is Assistant Warden of Ty Teilo and runs the Sunday Club in the vestry during morning service. The parish runs the Little Fish Fun Club for children which meets in the school holidays.

The church is 13th Century and dedicated to St. Tydfil, a female Celtic saint whom not much is known for certain. It is the only church in the Vale dedicated to her. The church is first mentioned in 1173 as a possession of Tewkesbury Abbey. However the presence of an early Christian monument, possibly a lintel, suggests that it may have been pre-Norman foundation. Llysworney appears to have been the centre of the pre-Norman cantref of Gwrinydd.

The building is constructed in lias limestone rubblework; the dressings of the pre-Victorian openings, where present, are in sandstone with the possible exception of the West window, and the Victorian openings in the Bath stone. The church consists of chancel, central tower containing a single bell, nave, South porch and modern vestry on the North side of the chancel. The church has an unusual appearance, for the tower is not as wide as the nave, but is built flush with it on the North. The broad pointed arch from nave to tower is not on the same axis of the nave but considerably on the North side of it, whilst the acutely-pointed arch from the tower to chancel is still further North. This results is a very restrictive view of the sanctuary from the nave.

St. Tydfil’s Church is welcoming well supported and an essential part of village life. As well as the traditional services throughout the year there are special occasions such as Harvest Service and Supper, Christingle Service, Midnight Service on Christmas Eve and a Flower Festival. Over the past few years worshippers and the broader community have created new kneelers for the church.

The pattern of Sunday services is as follows

1st Sunday     Family Service at 9.30am.

2nd Sunday     Holy Eucharist at 6.00pm.

3rd Sunday     Holy Eucharist with Sunday Club at 9.30am.

4th Sunday     Evensong at 6.00pm.

5th Sunday     We join with our sister parishes of Llandow and Colwinston which rotates around the three villages.

The church is open every day.

Rector
The Rev Peter Leonard

Church Wardens
Jeremy Rawlins
Diane Bluck

The Church also runs the Little Fish Fun Club and Christian Holiday Club for 5-12 year olds, which meets at every school holiday. For further details please see separate sections of the village website.

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