St Martin's Church, Cwmyoy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of St Martin, Cwmyoy |
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| Church of St Martin | |
"The most crooked church in Britain"
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| OS grid reference | SO299233 |
| Location | Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire |
| Country | Wales |
| Denomination | Church in Wales |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | c.12th century |
| Dedication | St Martin |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 9 January 1956 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Llanfihangel Crucorney with Oldcastle and Cwmyoy and Llanthony |
| Deanery | Abergavenny |
| Archdeaconry | Monmouth |
| Diocese | Monmouth |
The Church of St Martin in Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a very old church. It was started in the 12th century, which means it's over 800 years old! Most of what you see today was built in the 13th century. This church is famous because it's incredibly tilted. This tilt happened because of a landslide on the ground it was built on. People have tried to make it stronger with huge wooden beams and stone supports called buttresses to stop it from falling over. St Martin's is a Grade I listed building, which means it's a very important historic building. It's still used as a church today.
Contents
Why Is the Church Crooked?
The Church of St Martin is built on ground that isn't very stable. The rocks underneath are Old Red Sandstone and marl. Over hundreds of years, the ground has slowly slipped and sunk. This has caused the church's tower and the main part (called the chancel) to move in different directions. This twisting makes the whole building look very crooked!
People noticed the church was moving soon after it was built. The builders in the Middle Ages tried to fix it. They added repairs and rebuilt parts to deal with the unstable ground. Later, in the Victorian era, a builder named J. James Spencer added more buttresses in 1887. These were meant to make the church stable, not to make it straight again. More repairs happened in 1991. Because of its extreme tilt, St Martin's is often called "the crooked church" or even "the most crooked church in Britain."
Church Design and Features
The church is made from Old Red Sandstone rocks and has stone-tiled roofs. It's built in the Gothic style. It has a main hall (the nave), a special area for the altar (the chancel), a porch, and a three-story tower with a castellated top, which looks like a castle wall.
Inside, the church still shows how uneven it is. One writer said visiting it feels like being "on the deck of a galleon in a storm." The nave roof is very old, from the late 1200s or early 1300s. The chancel is an example of a "weeping chancel." This means the chancel isn't perfectly straight with the nave. Some people believe this was done on purpose to represent the body of Jesus Christ on the cross, with the nave as the body and the chancel as the head, tilted to one side.
The church also has a beautiful wooden screen called a rood screen. Its windows are from the 1500s, and the communion rails are from the 1600s. You can also see old funeral monuments inside, made by the Brute family in the 1700s and 1800s.
The Church Bells
The tower holds six bells. They are very old, made between 1672 and 1722. It's rare to find a set of bells this old that were all made around the same time! However, these bells can't be rung properly. Some are cracked or broken, and the tower itself isn't strong enough to handle the force of ringing them all at once.
The Cwmyoy Cross
Inside the church, there's an ancient stone cross. It's sometimes called a wayside cross or crucifix. It was made in the 11th or 12th century. This cross has a rare carving of Jesus Christ on the cross. In the Middle Ages, this cross would have stood outside in the churchyard. Pilgrims, who were people traveling for religious reasons, would stop to pray at it as they passed through the Black Mountains on their way to St David's Cathedral.
During the Reformation, when many religious items were destroyed, this cross was buried in the churchyard to keep it safe. In 1967, the cross was stolen! Luckily, it was found in an antique shop in London. Someone from the British Museum recognized it. It was returned to the church, but its original base was missing. Now, it stands on a new stone base with an inscription.
Churchyard and Notable Graves
Outside the church, there's a "preaching cross" in the churchyard. This is a very old monument and is protected as a scheduled ancient monument. Among the many gravestones, one stands out. It's a modern purple slate pillar near the church. This marks the grave of Arthur Denys Gill (1926–2008), who was a racing car driver. After he retired from racing, he lived and farmed nearby.
Images for kids
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Church of St Martin, Cwmyoy
