Bettws Newydd St Aeddan
Bettws Newydd St Aeddan
St Aeddan is a Grade I Church in Wales parish church at Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire, in the Diocese of Monmouth. Cadw and Coflein describe a well-preserved fifteenth-century church of probable twelfth-century foundation, restored in 1872 in memory of W. R. Stretton of Brynderwen.
- Location
- Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire
- Country
- Wales
- County
- Monmouthshire
- City / town
- Bettws Newydd
- Address
- Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire, NP15 1JN
- Postcode
- NP15 1JN
- Built
- C15 fabric on a probable C12 foundation; restored 1872; vestry 1894–5
- Architect
- H Prothero of Cheltenham (vestry 1894–5)
- Denomination
- Church in Wales
- Dedication
- Aeddan
- Diocese
- Monmouth
- Parish
- Heart of Monmouthshire Ministry Area
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Perpendicular
- Materials
- Rubble stone; oak rood screen, loft and tympanum
- Grid reference
- SO 362 059
- Access
- Rural churchyard at a crossroads of Usk Valley paths; three historic yew trees
Overview
The plan is a single cell: a barrel-vaulted nave with integral chancel, west porch and west bellcote. The outstanding fitting is a late medieval oak rood screen with loft and tympanum still in situ. The Royal Commission called the arrangement probably unique in the British Isles; Newman and others have described it as among the most complete rood ensembles in England and Wales. The screen has five panelled bays either side of a central doorway and a projecting loft with vine-and-oak trail and pierced tracery.
A rood stair stands against the south wall. A lean-to vestry of 1894–5 is by H. Prothero of Cheltenham. The churchyard contains three historic yews and sits at a crossroads of paths in the Usk Valley. Dedication to St Aeddan is the usual attribution, though Church in Wales heritage notes record some uncertainty.