St Afran, St Ieuan and St Sannan give their names to village but that would be a bit of a mouthful. The church is redundant (though as it's conserved then that's not really true?) and listed (don't let me get started on the subject of listed churches). It's looked after by The Friends of Friendless Churches (really? which idiot came up with that name?).
....sorry, back to my little bimble..... no students for a couple of hours so a long lunch away from the noise of hawks doing circuits.
There's my destination but what's that to the left?
Not much to see
On to the churchyard ...and there's more hidden at the back
Simple stone stile, the occupiers obviously used the church
Residential and obviously not used for a very long time. Should I resort to the 'couldn't find any history'? Or should I make a little bit of effort.
Unsurprisingly there is no paperwork. Census returns and old maps do however yield a little bit of info. The owner appears to have been a weaver and the other two buildings nearby probably a weaving shed and store. At least eight people lived in the house (two adults and at least six kids in one census). One of the daughters was still there in spring 2011 when the census was recorded. No-one there in 1939 when the population survey was done.
Stairway to nowhere, the two upper rooms and roof are on the ground floor now
A basic dwelling but it appeared to have a reasonable amount of land around it. For the adventurous there are a few more bits and pieces of broken household goods and evidence of some doemestic animals being kept.
What of the church though?
Parts of the church date back to the C14th but most is C17th. The interior is mostly C18th and quite typical design. Paved floor and box pews along with a simple altar.
A new church was built close to the village and this one went out of use. By WW2 it was derelict. During the 1970's it was restored and taken on by the Friends.
Looked like it's had some significant recent care and attention
Simple slate altar which some toe-rags have seen fit to deface. It's not that it has religious significance to some people that bothers me...just the mindless vandalism and lack of respect for history/property. (would a suiatable punishment be to scratch their faces with the same force and instrument?)
....sorry, back to my little bimble..... no students for a couple of hours so a long lunch away from the noise of hawks doing circuits.
There's my destination but what's that to the left?
Not much to see
On to the churchyard ...and there's more hidden at the back
Simple stone stile, the occupiers obviously used the church
Residential and obviously not used for a very long time. Should I resort to the 'couldn't find any history'? Or should I make a little bit of effort.
Unsurprisingly there is no paperwork. Census returns and old maps do however yield a little bit of info. The owner appears to have been a weaver and the other two buildings nearby probably a weaving shed and store. At least eight people lived in the house (two adults and at least six kids in one census). One of the daughters was still there in spring 2011 when the census was recorded. No-one there in 1939 when the population survey was done.
Stairway to nowhere, the two upper rooms and roof are on the ground floor now
A basic dwelling but it appeared to have a reasonable amount of land around it. For the adventurous there are a few more bits and pieces of broken household goods and evidence of some doemestic animals being kept.
What of the church though?
Parts of the church date back to the C14th but most is C17th. The interior is mostly C18th and quite typical design. Paved floor and box pews along with a simple altar.
A new church was built close to the village and this one went out of use. By WW2 it was derelict. During the 1970's it was restored and taken on by the Friends.
Looked like it's had some significant recent care and attention
Simple slate altar which some toe-rags have seen fit to deface. It's not that it has religious significance to some people that bothers me...just the mindless vandalism and lack of respect for history/property. (would a suiatable punishment be to scratch their faces with the same force and instrument?)
