St Cybi's Church, Llangybi, Monmouthshire

St Cybi's Church, Llangybi, Monmouthshire
Church of St Cybi
The entrance and tower
St Cybi's Church, Llangybi, Monmouthshire Location in Monmouthshire
Coordinates: 51°39′56″N 2°54′23″W / 51.6655°N 2.9064°W / 51.6655; -2.9064
Location	Llangybi, Monmouthshire
Country	Wales
Denomination	Church in Wales
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	C13th-C14th century
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	18 November 1980
Architectural type	Church
Administration
Parish	Llangybi
Deanery	Raglan/Usk
Archdeaconry	Monmouth
Diocese	Monmouth
Clergy
Vicar(s)	The Reverend K J Hasler

The Church of St Cybi, Llangybi, Monmouthshire is a parish church with its origins in the 13th or 14th century. Refurbished in the 15th century, the church was restored in 1909-10. The interior has a notable collection of medieval wall paintings, in particular a Christ of the Trades, dating from c.1460. The church, although an active parish church, is currently closed for a significant repair programme. It is a Grade II* listed building and the architectural writer John Newman, recording the church in the Buildings of Wales series, described it as "one of the most interesting in the Usk Valley."

History[]

The church is dedicated to St Cybi, a 6th-century Cornish saint who is reputed to have founded the church. The present church dates from either the 13th or the 14th century.^[1] The church was refurbished in the early 18th century and then restored in the early 20th century by W H Dashwood Caple.^[1] The wall paintings are medieval and include The Creed and a depiction of Christ of the Trades.^[2] Whitewashed over for centuries, they are currently (2017) being restored, as part of an extensive restoration of the church.^[3]

Adam of Usk, the 15th-century priest and chronicler, was the incumbent of the parish in 1423.^[1]

The churchyard is the site of the grave of the victims of a Spanish sailor,^[4] Josef Garcia, who was convicted and hanged for the murder of five members of the Watkins family, resident in the village, in a notorious 19th century murder case.^[5]

Just outside the churchyard, are the remains of a Holy well, also dedicated to St Cybi.^[6] Recent scholarship suggests that the well, and the White Hart Inn in the village, were referenced by T.S. Eliot in his poem Usk.^[7] The relevant lines read:

"Do not suddenly break the branch, or

Hope to find

The white hart behind the white well."

Architecture and description[]

The style of the building is Perpendicular.^[8] The West Tower is two-storeyed and without buttresses.^[8] The medieval roof of the nave has been exposed during current renovations.^[9] Simon Jenkins described the early 20th century restoration of the interior as "masterly" and attributes it to W. D. Caröe.^[10] In addition to the medieval wall painting, the interior has a number of 17th century painted inscriptions.^[8] It also has some funerary monuments, including one dedicated to John Morgan, and dated 1805, by Tyley of Bristol. The monument depicts a woman crying over an urn under a spreading weeping willow. Opinions differ as to its quality; the record in British Listed Buildings describes it as "good",^[1] while Newman considers it "hackneyed."^[8] The pulpit is a reconstructed example from the 18th century, with an associated sounding board to amplify the preacher's voice.^[11] The pews are of the 19th century, and the organ dates from 1933.^[11]

Notes[]

References[]

• Jenkins, Simon (2008). Wales: Churches, Houses, Castles. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-713-99893-1.
• Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.