St Matthew's Church, Llandefalle

 

Keith and I tried to visit this church last summer, but there was no obvious or marked entrance.  I tried again when I went to Brecon a couple of weeks back,  although  it was not marked the obvious way which took you into the yard of the Manor House/Rectory. I chose to approach up a steep little lane - no parking, so I cwtched into a corner of a house driveway and crossed the lane.   The church sits on a terrace and looks towards the Black Mountains.   A previous church dated to the 13th C but the present one is mainly of 14th and 15th Century construction.  It's earliest roots are in the 6th Century, when it was dedicated to St Maelog, and there are still parts of the churchyard which are slightly circular. Baring Gould and Fisher considered it was dedicated to the unknown St Tyfalle, but that was more of a guess than any considered antiquarian research.

What beautiful blue skies. During the Middle Ages, the church belonged to Clifford Priory, over the Herefordshire border.

The porch with a stout door and piscina.

The plain font dates to the 13th C.

The two fragments of painted walls give a hint of how the church once looked.  My "Painted Temples" book describes them as a fragment of St George/St Christopher, and fragmentary floral designs.  There are Blackletter texts (illegible) which I must have missed.

The stairway up to the (now defunct) rood screen, and below, the pretty rood screen and a close-up of the fruiting vine motif.  This dates from the 14th C and luckily escaped destruction.

Some of the earliest memorials to parishioners.

A list of bequests - no chance they will forget their largesse to the church and forget a payment then!  Forget and you pay double!!

The alter in the shadows.

More memorials.

Fragments of Medieval glass made into collages. The wording reads: "This ancient glass was restored to the church of Llandefalle 1949. "  Then the Curate's and Churchwarden's names.

Another Piscina, this time inside the church.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting it with me.

Now as it's dry and sunny, I'm back outside to carry on tidying up the garden.  Have done a chunk of the 40 feet or so of old stable yard cobbles, getting rid of the moss, mud and weeds mainly using a screwdriver.  I know how to have fun!  It's made me more cheerful anyway - a job that really needs tackling.