Parish Church, Llanlleonfel, Breconshire

Llanlleonfel church is sited on an ancient hilltop site in a circular enclosure in the Dulas valley, one and a half miles north of Langammarch Wells, and six miles west of Builth Wells. The curvilinear churchyard and the presence of an important inscribed stone in the church suggest an early medieval establishment for the church and settlement.  This is reinforced by the earliest form of the name – Lanloeluayl (in 1280) and later Llanllewenvoyl from between 1360 and 1367. These forms incorporate the personal name Llywenfel, presumably an otherwise unattested saint. In the 18th century the church came under the patronage of the Gwynne family who reputedly purchased the neighbouring manor of Garth at the end of the previous century. It is suggested that it has been a sacred site since Roman times, when a branch of the Roman road between Neath and Chester close by. (A gravestone inscribed in ancient Latin is now situated in the church). The predecessor of the Victorian building was the church where Charles Wesley married Sarah Gwynne of nearby Garth House on 8 April 1749 in “a sombre affair with much prayer and hymn-singing” conducted by Charles’s brother, John Wesley. However, in the following years both the fortunes of the Gwynnes and the state of the church deteriorated; in 1873 the Rev. Francis Kilvert noted in his diaries "the ruined church tottered lone upon a hill in desolate silence, the only occupants being several white owls".

 Charles Buckeridge, architect of Oxford prepared an initial set of plans for rebuilding in 1859, and Peter Price, architect, a second set of plans in 1873. Applications for a grant from ICBS were rejected and none of these plans exist in the ICBS archive. Withers prepared the third and final set of plans in 1874. The church was rebuilt in 1876 with the bell tower positioned in the centre of the church, but this was later rebuilt on the west wall.

Reference    C G Powell: The Bristol firm of James Diment, Construction History Volume 1 page 27
Reference    The Buildings of Wales: Powys by Richard Haslam page
Reference    ICBS 07695 Rebuild  - Grant Approved