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St Michael's Parish Church
What: Parish Church (also church hall)
Where: Llanfihangel Penbedw, Pembrokeshire
Built: Unknown, enlarged 1859
Architect: Unknown, restored by John C. Davies
Abandoned: c. 1970
Listed: No
Visited: 2011
Last Known Condition: Derelict, latterly used as an animal shelter
Page Updated: September 2011
Llanfihangel Penbedw is an oddity, a parish of less than 400 people, a village which is barely there at all and a tiny church tucked away behind a farmyard. The earliest record of a rectory here is from 1325, which also shows that shortly before that date the patronage of the benefice belonged to John de Hastings, Earl of Pembroke. On December 3rd of that year, the church of 'Lanvihanel in Wales,' of the annual value of 6 marks, was assigned to Thomas Le Blount and Juliana his wife, late the widow of John de Hastings, as dower from her late husband. The first recorded rector is John ap Henry in 1387. By 1594 the living had come into the possession of the Crown. Registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials date from 1680 and are held by the National Library of Wales.
The church was enlarged and 'restored' following a grant of 1859 by architect John C. Davies. Davies' works included an outshot providing a vestry on the northern side and the relocation of the door from the south wall to the tower. The interior is plain with whitewashed walls except for the legend 'Sancteiddrwydd a weddai i'th dy' ('holiness becometh thy house', Psalm 93:5) above the chancel arch. Never blessed with a large congregation, by 1921 the parish had been united with neighbouring Capel Colman and was later amalgamated with Boncath. The last marriage is believed to have been conducted here in 1970 and the church fell out of use shortly afterwards. A church hall nearby probably closed at the same time.
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Despite being next to a very active farmyard, the church is a place of remarkable tranquility and there is a surprising sense of isolation here.
Inside the church, all furniture has been removed except for the font and two pews at the back of the church and the remains of the vestry partition lying on the vestry floor. Elsewhere the tiled floor is strewn with manure and the windows are all broken. It is not known whether there are any plans for restoration or conversion, but given its location in a remote spot surrounded by occupied graves, any such work seems unlikely to happen in the forseeable future.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davies, Graham (2001) 'Parish of Llanfihangel Penbedw.', http://members.multimania.co.uk/Graham_Davies/Cil100/Llanfihangel.html Retrieved 07.04.11.
Hicks, Gareth (25 Oct 2007) LLANFIHANGEL PENBEDW' http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/LlanfihangelPenbedw/index.html Retrieved 07.04.11.
Original documents in the custody of the National Library of Wales.
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