Service Times
Sunday
9:30am – Morning Prayer (1st Sunday)
9:30am – Holy Communion (3rd Sunday)
Accessibility
| Parking | There is no designated disabled parking. Space is available the opposite side of the church and so the road must be crossed. |
| Churchyard Paths | Small curb leading to North entrance. Even ramp down to church, no handrail. |
| Door Access | There are two steps into porch. |
| Inside Church | Room is available for wheelchair in the nave. Three steps up to communion rail. |
| Accessible Toilet | Unfortunately, there is currently no on-site toilet. |
| Induction Loop | There is no induction loop at this church. |
History
Llanvetherine church is set in a churchyard sloping down to the River Trothy. Built of old red sandstone with a corbelled tower, the simple interior was possibly rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Features include the lovely timber pulpit with panels of leafy branches and typical lettering. Also you will find interesting monuments including the worn figure of a priest and a life-size relief of a bearded man in academic gown holding a book.
The church of St James the Elder was built just above a tributary of the River Trothy beside what is now the B4521, the Old Ross Road, and is about 6 miles east of Abergavenny. The name ‘Llanvetherine’ is an Anglicised word broadly meaning ‘the parish or land of Gwytherine’. The church and its glebe land were mentioned in the Book of Llandaff, written in about 1150.
‘Cors and Morwyd gave the Church of Saint Gueithirin with three modii of land around it. After a time Cors on his own account gave another three modii above the road next to the other land already mentioned.’ [Three modii is about 27 acres.]
The gift of land was made when Nud was Bishop of Llandaff, and he was among the Clerical Witnesses of the Gift. Bishop Nud is thought to have lived somewhere between 850 and 916, and if so, there has been a Church on this site since at least 150 years before the Norman Conquest. The present building has several Pre–reformation features. The Churchyard has many interesting tombstones of mixed antiquity and legibility.
We have been unable to discover when the church was dedicated to St James, but the wardens were visited in 2014 by an enthusiast for holy wells. She had previously identified two sites, east and west of the church, where holy wells are likely to have been sited. She also pointed out that churches were often dedicated to St James when they were stations along medieval pilgrim routes.
There is a small Priest’s Door in the south wall of the Chancel through which the Pre-reformation priest would have entered to say Mass. In the Old Church, Mass was said in Latin beyond the Rood Screen, out of sight or physical involvement of the congregation in the Nave. The Rood Screen would have divided the Chancel (or Quire) from the Nave.
In the south wall of the Nave there is a tall semi–circular headed window dated 1703. This window allows light onto the pulpit although its original purpose is uncertain. Outside the pulpit window, in the churchyard are the remains of a churchyard or ‘preaching’ cross.
The Porch has a Holy Water Stoop near the main south door, another Pre-reformation feature. A medieval sword has been crudely carved into the threshold of the south door, much of it worn away, but the parts of the hilt are obvious.
Llanvetherine church is set in a churchyard sloping down to the River Trothy. Built of old red sandstone with a corbelled tower, the simple interior was possibly rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Features include the lovely timber pulpit with panels of leafy branches and typical lettering. Also you will find interesting monuments including the worn figure of a priest and a life-size relief of a bearded man in academic gown holding a book.
The church of St James the Elder was built just above a tributary of the River Trothy beside what is now the B4521, the Old Ross Road, and is about 6 miles east of Abergavenny. The name ‘Llanvetherine’ is an Anglicised word broadly meaning ‘the parish or land of Gwytherine’. The church and its glebe land were mentioned in the Book of Llandaff, written in about 1150.
‘Cors and Morwyd gave the Church of Saint Gueithirin with three modii of land around it. After a time Cors on his own account gave another three modii above the road next to the other land already mentioned.’ [Three modii is about 27 acres.]
The gift of land was made when Nud was Bishop of Llandaff, and he was among the Clerical Witnesses of the Gift. Bishop Nud is thought to have lived somewhere between 850 and 916, and if so, there has been a Church on this site since at least 150 years before the Norman Conquest. The present building has several Pre–reformation features. The Churchyard has many interesting tombstones of mixed antiquity and legibility.
We have been unable to discover when the church was dedicated to St James, but the wardens were visited in 2014 by an enthusiast for holy wells. She had previously identified two sites, east and west of the church, where holy wells are likely to have been sited. She also pointed out that churches were often dedicated to St James when they were stations along medieval pilgrim routes.
There is a small Priest’s Door in the south wall of the Chancel through which the Pre-reformation priest would have entered to say Mass. In the Old Church, Mass was said in Latin beyond the Rood Screen, out of sight or physical involvement of the congregation in the Nave. The Rood Screen would have divided the Chancel (or Quire) from the Nave.
In the south wall of the Nave there is a tall semi–circular headed window dated 1703. This window allows light onto the pulpit although its original purpose is uncertain. Outside the pulpit window, in the churchyard are the remains of a churchyard or ‘preaching’ cross.
The Porch has a Holy Water Stoop near the main south door, another Pre-reformation feature. A medieval sword has been crudely carved into the threshold of the south door, much of it worn away, but the parts of the hilt are obvious.