History
Church of St. Curig was probably erected in the 13th century, and the first written mention about it appeared in 1254. Porthkerry was then a large port in which every monk, cleric, missionary or pilgrim, before leaving, stopped to pray for safe passage of the Bristol Channel waters. At the end of the 15th or at the beginning of the 16th century, a tower and porch were added to the church. In 1867, a thorough renovation of the building was carried out, during which the chancel arch was rebuilt in the presbytery, the roof was replaced and the sacristy was added.
Architecture
The church was erected on the plan of a typical early Gothic small village temple with a rectangular nave and a narrower, rectangular chancel on the eastern side. On the west side, in the 15th / 16th century, a four-sided tower was added with a prominent parapet mounted on corbels and a battlement. In the same period, a porch was erected at the southern entrance to the nave. The original windows of the church were small, quite narrow, topped with trefoils. In the late Gothic period, larger openings with trefoil finials were grouped in two, placed in pointed or three-sided frames supported by consoles. Originally, there were two entrances to the church: the southern one to the nave intended for the congregation and the southern one to the presbytery used by the parish priest. Both were placed in simple portals with pointed finials.
Current state
A number of medieval windows from the 15th and 16th centuries have been preserved in the church, including a two-light, pointed window in the eastern wall of the chancel, or a two-light window in a rectangular frame in the western wall of the tower. The parapet of the tower was reconstructed in 1958, while the chancel arcade has the form obtained today as a result of works from the 19th century.
bibliography:
Salter M., The old parish churches of Gwent, Glamorgan & Gower, Malvern 2002.
Website britishlistedbuildings.co.uk, Church of St Curig A Grade II Listed Building in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan.