Cwmyoy

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St. Martin's Church at Cwmyoy

Cwmyoy (Welsh: Cwm-iou) is an extensive rural parish in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales, United Kingdom. Alternate spellings include Cwm Iau.

The village is located 7 miles north of Abergavenny and 4 miles south of Llanthony in the Vale of Ewyas in the Black Mountains. It is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, in an upland location just below the ridge of Hatterall Hill which forms the the border between England and Wales and along which runs Offa's Dyke Path.

Cwmyoy is best known for its medieval church, which has been called the "most crooked church in Great Britain".^{[citation needed]}

1 Cwmyoy Church
2 The parish
3 Local amenities
4 References
5 Links

[edit] Cwmyoy Church

St. Martin's Church is a stone church standing on a steep hillside on the east side of the valley. It was begun in the 12th century, and as it now exists most of the building dates to the 13th century. The church is in the Gothic style, and has a chancel, nave, south porch, and western tower. A round-headed north window dates to the 12th century, and the nave roof has been dated to the late 13th or early 14th century.^[1] A stone medieval cross in the church is said to have been a landmark along the pilgrimage route to St. David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales.^{[citation needed]}

The underlying geology is of Old Red Sandstone overlying marl, and processes of slippage and subsidence over the centuries have caused the tower and chancel to move in opposite directions, twisting the entire structure. To strengthen the church walls and prevent its collapse, additional support has been provided by massive tie beams and buttresses. The tower supposedly leans at an angle greater than that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.^{[citation needed]}

The church's windows are 16th century and the communion rails date to the 17th century. The six bells in the tower date to 1672. A number of 18th- and 19th-century funeral monuments within the church were constructed by three generations of the Brute family of the village of Llanbedr, near Crickhowell, Powys. The church was restored in 1885-89 by J. James Spencer, who did not attempt to straighten the building.^[1]

[edit] The parish

The parish is nearly 8 miles long and 1 mile broad, and includes Llanthony as well as Cwmyoy itself. In 1893, an area in the neighbouring valley of the Gwryne Fawr, known as Fwthog, which had been an exclave of Herefordshire, was transferred into the parish.^[2]

[edit] Local amenities

The Cwmyoy area is popular with hillwalkers and pony trekkers. Llanthony Priory, Capel-y-ffin and Gospel Pass are all accessed by passing below Cwmyoy village.