St Tyfi Church

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The church from the west

The St Tyfi Church of Llandyfeisant is a small church in Carmarthenshire in Wales . The small church, protected as a Grade II cultural monument, is located south of Dinefwr Castle . The church itself is of little architectural interest, but has an impressive location above the Tywi in the southwest of Dynevor Park.

history

For centuries the church served as the parish church of Llandyfeisant, a small parish south of Llandeilo . The square was probably already in use during Roman times , as old, presumably Roman walls, remains of mosaics and an urn with Roman coins are said to have been found not far from the church at the beginning of the 19th century. However, these discoveries have not been documented. Presumably there was an early Christian church on the site of the church. The church, consecrated to the Celtic saint Tyfei , a nephew of saint Teilo, was first mentioned in 1291. The Welsh Lord Rhys Mechyll of Dinefwr Castle is said to have given it to the Premonstratensian Abbey of Talley Abbey in the first half of the 13th century , to which it remained subject until the Reformation in 1535. After the English conquest of Wales , the church was expanded or rebuilt towards the end of the 13th century. It probably served as the parish church of New Town , a borough founded by English settlers on the site of today's Newton House . However, the small settlement barely developed. It had been partially abandoned as early as the 16th century and was demolished and relocated in the 17th century in order to build Newton House. Around 1710 the church was still used for services for the people living in the surrounding farms, but is already described as derelict. In the 19th century, the church served as the family church of the Barons Dynevor who lived in Newton House. In the second half of the 19th century, the old church was demolished and rebuilt in neo-Gothic style based on designs by Kyrke Pearson, who had also converted Newton House. After the population of the small parish had fallen sharply in the 20th century, the church was no longer used for church services from 1962. The font and a stained glass window were removed and stored in the parish church of St Teilo in Llandeilo. In the 1980s, the church was renovated again and briefly served as a visitor center for the surrounding Castle Woods with its old trees, but the church is currently not in use and is usually closed.

Building description

The floor plan of the small, simple church dates back to the Middle Ages. The oldest surviving part of the church is a window probably dating from the 13th century, which was reinstalled on the south side during the reconstruction. The church was built from quarry stone with a slate roof and consists of a main nave and choir as well as a south aisle, which is separated from the main nave by a three-arched arcade. On the west side there is a small entrance porch, above the west gable there is a stone roof turret with two bells.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ St.tyfi's Church (Now Interpretation Center) Dynevor Park, Llandeilo. Retrieved August 30, 2014 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 52 '51.6 "  N , 4 ° 0' 8.6"  W.