All Saints, Llangorwen
All Saints, Llangorwen
All Saints stands in the Clarach valley on the east side of the B4572, just north of Pont Llangorwen, Ceredigion. Cadw lists it at Grade II* as one of the first Gothic Revival churches in Britain designed to Oxford Movement principles.
- Location
- Llangorwen, Ceredigion
- Country
- Wales
- County
- Ceredigion
- City / town
- Llangorwen
- Address
- Llangorwen, Ceredigion, SY23 3DW
- Postcode
- SY23 3DW
- Built
- 1838–41; west front and south porch 1849–50
- Consecrated
- 1841
- Architect
- H J Underwood of Oxford; west front and porch by William Butterfield
- Denomination
- Church in Wales
- Dedication
- All Saints
- Diocese
- St Davids
- Parish
- Bro Padarn
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Early English Gothic Revival
- Materials
- Squared grey Silurian slate-shale brought to course; Bath-stone tracery; steep slate roofs
- Grid reference
- SN 603 838
- Opening hours
- Open 10am to 5pm Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday from March to September.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas
Overview
Cadw records an Anglican parish church of 1838–41 by H. J. Underwood of Oxford, consecrated in 1841 by Bishop Thirlwall. The cost of about £3,000 was largely borne by M. D. Williams of Cwmcynfelin; local stone was given by R. Richardes of Penglais. The design followed Underwood's church for John Henry Newman at Littlemore. The stone altar was the first in Wales since the Reformation. Isaac Williams, hymn writer and Newman's curate, was brother to the patron. John Keble and Newman gave the lectern and chandeliers. William Butterfield added the west front and south porch in 1849–50 in place of an intended west tower.
The fabric is squared grey Silurian slate-shale with Bath-stone east-window tracery and porch, under steep slate roofs. The aisleless nave and lower chancel are Early English, with lancets and stepped buttresses. Butterfield's west front has two lancets flanking a mid-buttress that rises into a slim octagonal spirelet. The chancel is ashlar-lined in Early English detail modelled on Salisbury Cathedral, with a cusped stone altar and a seven-bay reredos. The church is in the Diocese of St Davids and the parish of Bro Padarn.