St Stephen, Old Radnor

St Stephen's is a Grade I Church of England parish church at Old Radnor, Powys, in the Diocese of Hereford: one of the finest late-medieval churches in Wales, standing high on the west flank of Old Radnor Hill, and home to the oldest surviving organ case in the British Isles.

Overview

Cadw lists the Parish Church of St Stephen (reference 9131, designated 15 February 1993). Cadw records a pre-Norman foundation and a present church predominantly of the fifteenth century, rebuilt after attacks by Owen Glendower in 1401-02 but including earlier fabric, with a restoration of 1882 by F. Preedy of Worcester. The church stands in a largely circular churchyard. The east end of the chancel was rebuilt in 1882 and much window tracery was remade in the nineteenth century. Roofs are tiled with raised ashlar copings and apex crosses. The interior is unusually fine: four-bay nave arcades on tall octagonal piers, a late-fifteenth-century screen of Gloucestershire type across nave and aisles, sixteenth-century parclose screens, and fifteenth-century stalls with poppy finials.

The organ case, generally dated about 1500-1540, is widely described as the oldest in the British Isles; the instrument inside is largely a nineteenth-century Walker organ installed during work associated with F. H. Sutton. The dedication to St Stephen is sometimes linked with the Welsh saint Ystyffan. The church is served with Kington parishes across the English border.

Further Information

• Cadw listed building 9131
• Kington parishes
• CPAT: Church of St Stephen, Old Radnor