History
The first, still wooden, church in Llangennith (Llangenydd) was built by Saint Cenydd (Kenneth) in the 6th century AD. It burned down in 986 during a Danish invasion. In the 11th or early 12th century it was rebuilt, as a stone foundation under the rule of the Norman lords of Gower. The exact date of construction is unknown, but it is known that it was ordained by bishop Herewald, who died in 1104.
Around 1107-1118, Henry de Beaumont donated the church to the Benedictine Abbey in St. Taurin (Evreux) in France. The monks founded a small monastery in Llangennith, which served parishioners and oversaw the estate. In 1218 there were only two or three of them here. The chronicler Gerald of Wales also gave information about the local prior who engaged in an affair with a local woman and remained in the relationship despite numerous admonitions until he was finally deposed. Another information from 1291 recorded in Taxatio ecclesiastica noted a modest income of the convent of just over £ 4 and possession of 120 acres of arable land and six cows.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the church was significantly rebuilt and enlarged, and in 1414, king Henry IV took over all foreign monasteries and gave Llangennith to the Oxford’s All Souls College, at which it remained until was bought by Major Penrice in 1838. His nephew donated the church to the parish in 1883. In the nineteenth century, a thorough restoration of the building was made.
Architecture
The church from the thirteenth century consisted of a rectangular nave and a rectangular, but much smaller and narrower chancel, also on a rectangular plan. The great church tower rises very unusually, because from the north side at the crossing of the nave and chancel. In the lower part, it has an arcaded wall, probably the only remnant of a church from the 12th century or monastic buildings. The tower has three floors, narrow ogival windows and a parapet on protruding corbels, topped with a battlement from the north and south. It could have defensive functions, but one can not exclude symbolic meaning or the desire to suspend heavy and large bells, which, with poor quality of mortar, forced construction of a stronger tower. Probably in the fourteenth century, a porch was added to the north side of the church.
Current state
St Cenydd’s Church in Llangennith is now one of the best-preserved medieval religious buildings in South Wales, and one of the most magnificent rural temples, distinguished by its large size and massive tower. Inside there is a 14th-century tombstone of a knight from the de la Mare family, and a fragment of a 9th-century cross at the western wall.
bibliography:
Burton J., Stöber K., Abbeys and Priories of Medieval Wales, Chippenham 2015.
Salter M., Abbeys, priories and cathedrals od Wales, Malvern 2012.
Salter M., The old parish churches of Gwent, Glamorgan & Gower, Malvern 2002.
Website britainexpress.com, Llangennith, St Ceyndd Church.
Website gatehouse-gazetteer.info, Llangenydd Church of St Cenydd.