History
The church of St. Gwenog in Llanwenog was established at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1485, a tower was built on the initiative of Rhys ap Thomas, Lord of Dinefwr and Carew. In the Middle Ages, it was a parish church assigned to the Talley Abbey. Later the church was owned by the bishops of St. Davids, as a prebend of collegiate at Llanddewi Brefi. In the nineteenth century, the church happily underwent only minor modernization, while the renovation was carried out at the beginning and the end of the twentieth century.
Architecture
Originally, the church consisted of a rectangular, elongated nave without an externally separated chancel. At the end of the 15th century, a late-medieval tower was added to it, situated on the west side. It received a widened plinth, a parapet with battlement and an extended communication turret on the north-eastern side. The whole tower was built of larger stones than the rest of the church. On the south-eastern side, a rectangular chapel was also added to the nave and chancel in the 15th century. Its interior opened onto the older nave with two wide arcades.
Current state
Most of the church has preserved its medieval form to this day, with the exception of a small annex on the north side, housing the organ room. The facades of the nave and the southern chapel are whitewashed today, in line with the medieval technique of strengthening the wall’s resistance to moisture. Inside the nave, a late-medieval roof truss from the 15th century and a baptismal font have been preserved.
bibliography:
Salter M., The old parish churches of South-West Wales, Malvern 2003.
Wooding J., Yates N., A Guide to the churches and chapels of Wales, Cardiff 2011.
Website britishlistedbuildings.co.uk, St Gwenog Church A Grade I Listed Building in Llanwenog, Ceredigion.
Website coflein.gov.uk, St Gwenog’s church, Llanwenog.