St Gwendoline, Talgarth
St Gwendoline, Talgarth
St Gwendoline’s is a Grade II* Church in Wales parish church on a plateau above Talgarth, Powys, at the junction of Church Street and School Street, in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon.
- Location
- Talgarth, Powys
- Country
- Wales
- County
- Powys
- City / town
- Talgarth
- Address
- Talgarth, Powys, LD3 0BH
- Postcode
- LD3 0BH
- Built
- C13 and C14; restored 1873
- Architect
- Thomas Nicholson of Hereford (1873 restoration)
- Denomination
- Church in Wales
- Dedication
- Gwendoline
- Diocese
- Swansea and Brecon
- Parish
- Talgarth
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Medieval Gothic
- Materials
- Laminated rubble Devonian red sandstone with slate roofs
- Grid reference
- SO 157 338
- Opening hours
- Open everyday.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas
Overview
Cadw records that Talgarth was a chief residence of the royal house of Brycheiniog. The church, with Llangors, was granted to Brecon Priory by Bernard of Neufmarche in 1093–95. Tradition makes it the burial place of St Gwendoline (Gwenfrewi), a daughter of Brychan. Howel Harris was converted here in 1735; his churchyard preaching is associated with the later evangelical course of the hymn-writer William Williams, Pantycelyn. The present building is of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, restored in 1873 by Thomas Nicholson of Hereford. The fabric is laminated rubble Devonian red sandstone with slate roofs. Two parallel roofed ranges comprise nave with chancel and a slightly shorter south aisle with east chapel (the Francis Chapel), plus a large north transept (formerly a school, rebuilt 1893), a wide gabled south porch and a west tower. Cadw lists the church at Grade II* for good medieval work and its associations with early Methodism.