The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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St. John's Church, Llandenny

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00932g
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Raglan
Unitary authority : Monmouthshire
NGR : SO4151203923
Site Type (preferred type first) : Medieval Church
Status : listed building I

Summary :
Llandenny church is a pre-Norman foundation, the first recorded mention of which is in c AD 750. The church consists of nave; separate (and weeping) chancel; W tower with stair turret; S porch; rood stair and vestry. There are Norman, Early English, Decorated and post-medieval architectural details. Victorian restoration.

Description :
Llandenny church is a pre-Norman foundation, the first recorded mention of which is in c AD 750 (Brook 1988, 79). The churchyard is polygonal and partly curvilinear, and is slightly raised above the surrounding area. The church consists of nave; separate (and weeping) chancel; W tower with stair turret projecting from the E end of its N side; S porch; rood stair on the S side of the nave; and a vestry added in the Victorian period. The general appearance inside is like that of the neighbouring churches of Llanarth and Bryngwyn, with a high narrow nave. The vestry was locked at the time of the visit.

The building is constructed of roughly coursed rubble in coarse-grained local sandstone, whose colour ranges from a fairly bright red through fawn to grey. The blocks are of irregular shape and size but with fairly well squared corners, quoined with ashlar blocks of the same material except in the nave which has no surviving quoins. The same stone is also used for dressings on all the medieval openings, and on the post-medieval openings which pre-date the Victorian restoration. Occasional blocks of fine-grained red sandstone appear in the fabric of the walls. The plaster has been stripped from the interior of the building, but as the style of pointing employed obscures the edges of the stones, this does not provide any significant extra information. The exterior finish is rather less unhelpful, but the masonry of the walls is still not very clear except in those places, especially on the N wall of the nave, where the mortar has disappeared completely. The vestry is constructed from squared rock-faced blocks of the same sandstone, with dressings of yellow limestone. Limestone dressings were also used for the inserted Victorian window in the N wall of the nave, and the buttresses against the same wall.

This church has been represented as retaining elements of Norman construction, in the semi-circular tympanum carved on the wide lintel-block which forms the square head of the W doorway, and the round-headed slit on the N wall of the nave (Guy and Smith 1979, 28-9, Salter 1991, 22). The window is probably of 12th century date, but this does not seem to be the case with the doorway. There are traces of reconstruction around the head of the door, with the voussoirs of an arch around part of the W side, and ordinary coursed rubble against the top and E side of the lintel-block. The door jambs are of fairly small blocks, as is the outer edge of the rear arch. Neither the head nor jambs bear any trace of the usual Norman decorative treatment; the stripping of limewash from the surface of head and jambs has revealed very crisp toolmarks which show that the surfaces have been worked with a point, and that neither has been subjected to weathering; they must have been protected since construction by limewash or the porch, or by both. Both the treatment of the door and the method of working the stone are virtually identical with that employed at Llanllowell, where a cross-slab with a compass-drawn flower was reused as the lintel to the door, and a post-medieval date can therefore be suggested; a similar date is probable at Llandenny.

Although the slit window in the nave is undoubtedly of early form, the rear arch is two-centred rather than semi-circular, and a 13th century date is perhaps most suitable for this, the earliest architectural feature of the church. The chancel arch and tower arch could also be 13th century, though not necessarily so. The chancel arch, although low enough to be 13th century, seems to have been at least partly reconstructed, since at S side of the nave face of the arch the chamfer finishes with a stop at about 1m above floor level, a feature more usually found with a rood screen. It is not possible to determine definitely with the walls in their current condition whether the nave and chancel were constructed at the same time. The E and SE windows of the chancel are of late 13th or early 14th century style, and although the outside of the SW window in the chancel is Victorian, it may replace an earlier window, since its rear arch appears to be much older. The nave windows and rood stair are of 15th or early 16th century date, but the nave windows are of different style and may not have been put in at the same time.

The tower is clearly an addition to the structure, as a straight joint is visible on the S wall between the nave and tower. The style of the door and windows would seem to indicate a 16th century date. It could be a replacement for an earlier tower, since the tower arch is of a type current from the 13th century, although the fact that stops on this are the same as the stops on the W door suggest that the two may be contemporary. The plinth is an addition to the tower, as the straight joint between it and the dressings of the W door shows; the form of the bolection moulding around the top suggests a classical inspiration and possibly an 18th century date, though it could be earlier, as at Cwmcarvan. The porch, and the NE window of the nave, may also be 16th century. The Victorian restoration was responsible for the most westerly of the windows in the N wall of the nave, the two buttresses against this wall, the ground floor window in the tower, and the vestry.

The internal fittings are Victorian or later, with the exception of a medieval altar slab mounted on a Victorian base, and a font dated 1661. Monuments are as Bradney, with the addition of a number of unusual carved wooden 20th century ones. Wright (1938a, 74) noted six bells, four of 1715 and two of 1839.

References
Bradney, J A, 1914, A history of Monmouthshire. Vol I1 pt i, The Hundred of Raglan, 48-9
Brook, D, 1988, The early Christian church in Gwent, Monmouthshire Antiq 5, 67-84
Evans, J D, 1988, The churchyard yews of Gwent, 77, 102, 155
Guy, J R and Smith, E B, 1979, Ancient Gwent churches. Newport
Salter, M, 1991, The old parish churches of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower. Malvern
Wright, A, 1938a, The church bells of Monmouthshire ii, Archaeol Cambrensis, 93, 57-74 (74)
Evans 1997 GGAT 51 Historic Churches Project

Sources :
Evans, E M , 1997 , Gwent Historic Churches Survey: Churches in the Diocese of Monmouth, Deanery of Raglan & Usk
Evans, E M , 2003 , Early Medieval Ecclesiastical sites in Southeast Wales: Desk based assessment
The Handley Partnership , HAAbase built heritage assessment system: Buildings at Risk database
Evans EM, 2003-04, GGAT 73 Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites Project
EM Evans (1998) GGAT 51/81 Welsh Historic Churches Survey: Glamorgan and Gwent

Events :
E001386 : Early medieval ecclesiastical sites in Southeast Wales desk based assessment (year : 2003)
E008773 : GGAT52: Monmouthshire Historic Settlements, Caldicot & Raglan (year : 1999)

Related records
Church in Wales Reference No. 4992 https://churchheritagecymru.org.uk/CHR/ChurchDetails.aspx?id=4168

Compiled date : 12-03-2004


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