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25 Apr, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Llangatwg Feibion Afel, in a little valley north-west of Monmouth, is one of Monmouthshire’s most remote churches. As you approach from a lane through fields, you might think you’ve discovered a lost medieval castle.

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But in the early medieval period, St Cadoc's was a 'mother' church or 'clas' church at the centre of a large community, and one of the most important churches in the area.

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An early charter shows that Llangatwg Feibion Afel’s daughter churches included:
Llanllwyd, Llanfaenor, St Maughan’s, St Thomas of Newcastle, and St Thomas of Panrox.

But where are these churches now? (and where on earth was 'Panrox'?)

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Ecclesiastical historian Dr. Madeleine Gray @heritagepilgrim has been exploring Llangatwg’s pre-Norman foundation and role as a clas church, looking at clues to a much bigger sphere of influence & ancient links with Monmouth Priory:

friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/llangatwg-feib…

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Friendless Churches Profile picture
27 Apr
Sitting in isolation on a knoll in rolling open countryside is St Lawrence’s, Hutton Bonville. It closed in 2007 and has lain empty since then. A picture of timeless, relentless melancholy.

Last October, we took this little church into our care.

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St Lawrence’s is a small medieval church that was much altered in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The story of this Yorkshire church is told in its stonework: the variety of colour, tooling, lichen, carving, joints … and of course, cracks.

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In this location, the church really only makes sense in relation to Hutton Bonville Hall, which was demolished in 1962. The only physical neighbour this church now has are the Hall’s two abandoned 18th-century gate piers, swathed in nettles and cow parsley.

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Read 6 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
18 Apr
In splendid isolation on the Llyn Peninsula, St Mary’s, Penllech overlooks the Irish Sea. A church has been here for over 800 years, serving generations of farming communities.
Its interior, where walls and woodwork are painted light grey, radiates simple beauty.

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Mentioned in the Norwich Valuation of 1254, the church is medieval in origin; however, the font is the only substantial survivor of this age. It’s a roughly hewn basin of brown stone, painted white on the inner face, and sunk into the shaft beneath.

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Most of what you see today is a rebuilding in 1840 by Samuel Jones. These rows of timber trusses, with their splayed shoulders, have an almost industrial feel. The closely spaced rafters almost resemble corrugated metal sheeting and lend a sort of warehouse vibe.

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Read 5 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
17 Apr
#OTD in 1913, William Manning, William Kitchen and Frank Smith were charged with playing Pitch and Toss with six halfpennies on the tow-path near Boveney church, Buckinghamshire.

The men were bored, the fish weren’t biting, and they wanted to pass the time...

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In this game, players take turns throwing a coin against a wall with the aim of landing closest to the wall. Known by many other names around Britain, incl. Pigeon Toss, Penny Up, and Nippy, it was a favourite children's game, and was even played by children in Ancient Greece.
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Pitch and Toss was a popular gambling game among adults too. But the three men at Boveney, who had been caught throwing their coins in a public place on a Sunday afternoon, insisted that they were simply playing to pass the time because they hadn't caught any fish.

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Read 4 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
15 Apr
Deep in the Black Mountains is an ancient oval churchyard. It encloses a church that has clung to the mountain for over 800 yrs. Homeless headstones form a jagged line-up outside. A sundial has told the time since 1686. Inside, an oxblood rood screen survives against the odds.
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This veranda-style screen dominates the interior. It was carved in the 14th century and painted with an ox’s blood. The red background is peppered with stencilled white roses.

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In the centre, a cross is picked out in bare wood. It’s the ghostly reminder of the crucifix that was lost from here during the Reformation.

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Read 6 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
14 Apr
A dizzying view down a medieval spiral staircase in a church tower...

The word SPIRAL comes from the Latin root SPIRA - to coil, wind or twist. This 14th-15th century spiral staircase winds claustrophobically through the iconic fenland tower of St Andrew's, Wood Walton.

#thread
SPIRE, on the other hand, comes from the Old English SPIR - a sharp point or blade of grass. It's related to SPEAR.

The elegant 14th-century spire of St Mary the Virgin's, Tetbury, in the Cotswolds is the fourth tallest in England, pointing 57m into the sky!

📷 Billy Wilson

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Are you INSPIRED by these remarkable feats of engineering? That's yet another linguistic root, the spire coming from (Latin) SPIRITUS — the breath of life.

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Read 4 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
13 Apr
Layers of Victorian tiles cracking and bursting open in the chancel of St Andrew's, Wood Walton, Cambridgeshire.

This lonely, medieval church on the edge of the Great Fen has been suffering from structural movement for centuries, defying all attempts to steady it.

1/
We've been working on it - little and often as funds allow - new roofs, new drainage, masonry repairs, and now re-plastering the chancel walls and repairing the floor.

And we’re making progress... Our monitors indicate that the church hasn’t moved in two years! 🥳

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This is positive, though it’s still early days...
These chancel walls are currently being redecorated, the floors stabilised. (Pictures will follow when the work is complete.)

Next, we plan to move on to the nave, which has been prey to thieves and vandals for decades...

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Read 4 tweets

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