Radnorshire Churches Survey

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Church of St Cynog , Boughrood

Summary

St Cynog's church at Boughrood is a mid-19thC structure, lying a little under 15km north-east of Brecon. Nothing of its predecessor has been preserved and the only furnishing of an earlier date is a heavy wooden chest. It is set in a large curvilinear churchyard close to the River Wye.

Entirely rebuilt in 1854.

Parts of the following description are quoted from the 1979 publication The Buildings of Wales: Powys by Richard Haslam

History

The location, dedication and the shape of the churchyard point to an early medieval foundation here.

The early history and subsequent development are largely unchronicled although it does appear in the 1291 Taxatio as 'Ecclesia de Boghred' though at the relatively low value of œ3 6s 8d.

Jonathan Williams, in 1818, described the predecessor of the present church as consisting of a nave and chancel, divided by a timber partition, a tower containing three bells, and a porch having a lavacrum on the right of the entrance. The interior was dark, irregularly pewed, and contained nothing remarkable.

Glynne on his visit in 1851 found a church accompanied by a small west steeple of stone with a wooden belfry, and a half-timbered south porch. The nave contained bad modern windows and two single windows with trefoiled heads. There were pews in the interior and a 'rude pointed' chancel arch. The old font had been abandoned in the churchyard.

Three years later it was rebuilt 1854 in Geometrical style by C.H. Howell.

Architecture

The church comprises a steeply roofed nave with a north aisle, a chancel with a vestry on its north side, a north-west tower outside the north aisle, and a south porch. Its is aligned east-south-east/west-north-west but 'ecclesiastical east' is adopted here.

Fabric: consists of blocks of grey, sometimes iron-stained sandstone, randomly coursed.

Roofs: reconstituted clay tiles in red and blue; toothed ridge tiles but only on nave; cross finials at all apices.

Drainage: nothing obvious but the whole perimeter is edged by flat slabs which could cover a drain.

Note: the church was completely rebuilt in 1854 and as a result the following description is a summary only.

Exterior

General. Walls in uniform masonry without any obvious re-used material, plinthed at a height of 0.5m; square buttresses except at east end of chancel where diagonal; fenestration and doorways in yellow sandstone, the windows traceried with relieving arches over. Ornate tower with truncated broach spire and weathercock on top; hexagonal stair turret on east side.

Interior

General. Tiled floors in red and black with carpets down the central aisle, but no obvious heating vents and grilles; benches raised slightly on wooden boarding. Chancel is one step up and the sanctuary rises by a further two steps, the floors of red tiles.

Walls plastered and whitewashed, and the whitening extended to the foliage bands on the arcade capitals and the corbels of the roof trusses. 19thC brasses in the chancel, and angel-corbels also.

Churchyard

Boughrood churchyard is large and noticeably curvilinear on the south and west sides, while the straighter sides on the north and east may, one suspects, have something to do with the design of the lane than lies beyond the perimeter.

It is located on level ground on the edge of a river terrace beside the Wye which flows a couple of hundred metres to the west. There is in fact a slight drop in the southern part of the churchyard due to the natural descent of the valley floor.

It is generally well kept and is still used for burial.

Boundary: this consists of a wall, drystone in places on the south and perhaps elsewhere, but mortared on the north-east above the road. Only at the southern entrance where the original perimeter has been extended outwards is the wall replaced by a hedge and the original line is shown by a scarp bank up to 1m high. In places material is banked up internally against the wall, but this does not disguise the fact that overall the churchyard is raised above the surrounding ground level, and above the road on the east the difference is in the region of one metre.

Monuments: these are on the whole quite widely spaced, taking up most of the churchyard, but there are localised concentrations, while in parts of the north and south-west there appear to be no graves at all. Some later 18thC graves are sited towards the south gate and there are mid to late 18thC examples close to the south side of the church. West of the church are 19thC and 20thC graves, and those to the north are all 20thC.

Furniture: the octagonal shaft of a sundial is set about 30m south of the church beside the path; the dial and gnomon have gone.

Earthworks: none.

Ancillary features: double, ornamental metal gates on the east, a metal kissing gate on the south and a wooden farm gate for vehicular access on the north. Grass paths are maintained by mowing except for a tarmac path leading from the east gate to the porch.

Vegetation: there are trees around the perimeter and a couple of yews but not of any great age.

Sources consulted

CPAT Field Visit: 16 November 1995
Crossley and Ridgway 1949, 223
Davies 1905, 244
Glynne 1897, 53
Haslam 1979, 222
Howse, 1949, 257

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Please note that many rural churches are closed to the public at certain times. It is advisable to check when the church will be open before visiting. Information about access, or how to contact parish clergy, can often be obtained from the relevant Diocesan Office which can be found through the Church in Wales website. Further information about Boughrood Church may also be found on the Swansea and Brecon Diocese website.