St Hilary, Cowbridge
St Hilary, Cowbridge
St Hilary’s is a Grade II* Church in Wales parish church at the centre of St Hilary village, about a mile south-east of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, in the Diocese of Llandaff.
- Location
- Cowbridge, South Glamorgan
- Country
- Wales
- County
- South Glamorgan
- City / town
- Cowbridge
- Address
- Cowbridge, South Glamorgan, CF71 7DP
- Postcode
- CF71 7DP
- Built
- 12th-century origins; south aisle 14th century; restored 1862
- Architect
- Sir George Gilbert Scott (1862 restoration); further repair 1900 by William Weir for SPAB
- Denomination
- Church in Wales
- Dedication
- Hilary
- Diocese
- Llandaff
- Parish
- Cowbridge
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Medieval, refenestrated in Decorated Gothic
- Materials
- Stone with a red-tiled roof
- Grid reference
- ST 016 732
- Opening hours
- The church is open daily from approximately 9 am to tea time.
- Access
- Level access throughout. Ramp or level access available on request
Overview
Cadw records a church of twelfth-century origins dedicated to St Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers; the listing states that no other church in Britain is named after him. The south aisle was added in the fourteenth century. In 1862 Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the church for Mrs Charlotte Louisa Traherne of Coedarhydyglyn in memory of her husband, refenestrating it in the Decorated style, adding the south porch and re-roofing the nave and south aisle. William Weir directed further repairs in 1900 for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
The building comprises nave, south aisle, chancel and a sixteenth-century embattled west tower. The chancel arch is twelfth-century. The chancel holds a recumbent armoured effigy to Thomas Bassett of Old Beaupre (d. 1423). Cadw lists the church Grade II* as a medieval parish church restored by a nationally important Victorian architect. It is one of the churches of the Parish of Cowbridge and is open daily.