St Martin's Church (Cwmyoy)
The St Martin's Church is a parish church in the municipality Cwmyoy in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire near the border with England . Saint Martin is the church patron .
The church is a listed building and classified as a Grade I Building . This makes it one of the most important architectural monuments in England and Wales.
history
The timing of St Martin's Church has not been clearly established. The construction of the church probably began in the 12th century, the oldest part of the building is likely to be the north-eastern window of the nave . The choir and portal are younger than the nave. The loft of the rood screen and the steps are probably from the 15th or 16th century, the tower of the church is medieval .
In 1887 and 1991 renovation work was verifiably carried out on the building. Further work was necessary because of the unstable subsurface, some of which are also documented in time.
The church belonged to the provost of Llanthony until its dissolution in 1538 . In 1830 St Martin became its own parish, in 1844 it was transferred from the Diocese of Saint David’s to the Diocese of Llandaff , in 1921 to Monmouth and since 1969 it has been part of the parish of Llanvihangel Crucorney.
description
Structure
The church is a quarry stone building made of red sandstone from the area; the roof is covered with stone. The outer walls date from the Middle Ages and, due to the displacements caused by the unstable subsoil, have undergone extensive repairs and renovations. The church consists of a nave , a choir , a portal in the south and the tower - with an external stair tower - in the west. The building was reinforced in the Victorian era with a few buttresses , three of them on each side of the nave, one on the pulpit and large buttresses on the tower. The same three double windows in the nave are also from the Victorian era, the northwest window is from the 12th or 13th century, the southwest window from the 13th or 14th century and the central window on the south wall is probably from the 16th century. The portal is undated, but was built before the 19th century. The choir was apparently built independently of the nave and has a narrow, Gothic window on the side walls and a double window on the front side in the east, which probably dates from the 14th century. The tower dates from the Middle Ages , is twisted and leans significantly towards the southwest. Pieces of quarry stone of different sizes were used as building material for the tower. On the ground floor there is a Victorian window on the west side, a small window on the first floor and large sound arcades on the third floor . At the top of the tower there are surrounding tower battlements .
inner space
The interior clearly shows how the church has moved over the past centuries as a result of the unstable subsurface. The floor is uneven, the walls are no longer square and the roof is twisted. In the 16th or 17th century, four additional beams were drawn in to stabilize the building. The arch to the tower is very low and the arch to the choir has probably been renewed.
Furnishing
The pews and the pulpit are from 1887, the baptismal font is from the 12th century and the altar grille is from the late 17th or early 18th century. On the plastered and whitewashed walls are many well-preserved grave slabs , most of which were made by the Brute family of stonemasons.
Bells
There are six church bells, two from 1672 and 1697, two from 1700 and two from 1722. A 300-year-old set of bells, all made in a very short period of time, is a rarity. Since some of the bells are cracked or broken and the tower is no longer stable enough, the bells can no longer be rung.
| No. |
Weight cwt |
Diameter ( inch ) |
Nominal | Year of origin | Caster |
| 1 | 3 | 25.63 | E. | 1700 | Evan I. Evans |
| 2 | 3 | 27.50 | D. | 1672 | John II Pennington ("IP") |
| 3 | 5 | 31.00 | Port | 1722 | Evan II & William Evans |
| 4th | 5½ | 32.50 | A. | 1697 | Evan I. Evans |
| 5 | 6½ | 34.88 | G | 1700 | Evan I. Evans |
| 6th | 9½ | 39.13 | F. | 1722 | Evan II & William Evans |
graveyard
The church is surrounded by a cemetery, some of the graves date back to the 18th century. Like the church, many tombstones are crooked and lean in different directions.
The most crooked church in Great Britain
Due to the different and sometimes considerable slope of choir, nave and tower, the St Martin's Church in Cwmyoy is considered "the most crooked church in Great Britain" ( Engl. For "the schiefste Church in Great Britain "). The slope of the tower of St Martin's Church is 5.2 degrees, about half a degree greater than the slope of the Leaning Tower of Pisa .
According to legend, the southern slope of Hatteral Hill, on which the church stands, was torn up by an earthquake. This earthquake is said to have occurred at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and caused a landslide. You can still see the large crack above the church.
In fact, however, the subsidence of the subsoil under the church, which was built on a hillside and on an ancient landslide, is responsible for the displacement of the building. The subsoil consists of red sandstone and marl .
Cross by Cwmyoy
The Cross of Cwmyoy, with a rare depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus, dates from the 11th or 12th century and was believed to have stood outside the church in the Middle Ages, where it was venerated by pilgrims on their way through the Black Mountains towards Llanthony and St David. During the Reformation in England, when the English Church separated from Rome, the cross was buried in the cemetery to protect it from the troops of Henry VIII . The cross was later placed back in the church and stolen in the 1960s. It was discovered by chance in a London second-hand bookshop, confiscated and brought back to Cwmyoy.
Todays use
Currently there is a weekly Sunday mass in St Martin's Church. The rest of the time, the church and cemetery are open and can be visited.
location
St Martin's Church is in the hamlet of Cwmyoy in Monmouthshire , Wales . The church stands on the southern slope of Hatteral Hill.
Web links
- St Martin's Church, Cwmyoy on breconbeacons.org
- St Martin's Church, Cwmyoy on hisdoryan.co.uk
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Church of St Martin on cadwpublic-api.arurewebsites.net, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ a b Cwmyoy on Dove's guide for church bell ringers - dove.cccbr.org.uk, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ Cwmyoy, St Martin's Churchyard Memorials on findagrave.com, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ St Martin on the parish website crucorney.wales, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ The crooked church - St Martin's Church - Cwmyoy on hisdoryan.co.uk, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ a b c The Cwmyoy Cross on megalithic.co.uk, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ Cwmyoy, St Martin's Church at britainexpress.com, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ St Martin's Church cemetery, Cwmyoy on waymarking.com, accessed September 2, 2019
- ↑ St Martin’s on stteiloschurch.org.uk, accessed September 2, 2019
Coordinates: 51 ° 54 '15.4 " N , 3 ° 1' 12.8" W.