St Teilo's Church
The Building
the St Fagans specialist Historic Buildings Unit is currently working on its most ambitious project to date, namely the re-erection and refurbishment of a medieval church from Llandeilo Tal-y-bont in west Glamorgan. This is the first time such a church has been moved to an open air-museum in Britain. Although some churches have been re-erected in museums on the continent, the vast majority of these are timber-built, whereas this building is of solid masonry construction.
History
The Church is believed to have been built during the 13th century on the site of an earlier pre-Norman church. Over time the building was altered and extended. The oldest parts of the present structure, the nave and chancel, are believed to have been built during the 13 or 14th centuries. During the late 14th century, two small transepts, or chapels, were added to the north and south of the chancel to create a cruciform church. Two arches were formed to link both transepts to the chancel. The north chapel was known as the Gronow Chapel, presumably in recognition of its benefactor. During the late 15th century the Church's capacity was increased by the addition of an aisle to the south side of the nave. The old south wall was replaced by two arches, with a third arch opening into the chancel. In order to improve the congregation's view of the altar from the south aisle, a 'squint opening' was formed through one of the side walls of the chancel arch. Finally, a porch was added to the entrance door leading into the south aisle of the church.
Architectural features
The roof timbers are of typical early 15th century design (arch-braced collar-beams) though they may in fact be somewhat later in date. The west wall of the nave was altered in the early 18th century (datestone 1736) and most of the stone-mullioned windows were replaced by timber-mullioned windows at this time.
Later, some of these windows were blocked and new (Victorian gothic) windows inserted in the north and south walls. One original two-light stone-mullioned window (14/15th century) survives in the south aisle. The head of another two-light cusped window were found in the north chapel where they had been used to block-up a window opening. Probably the oldest surviving feature is the stone font, which is believed to have been carved in the 13th century but might in fact be even earlier.