St Martin's Church, Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire 15 July 2014
"Departed this transitory life..."
The urn represents itself as the repository of the soul; the inverted torches symbolise the extinguishing of life. The Greek key pattern is commonly seen on early 19th Century stones, following the Greek Revival in the country.
St Martin's is buried deep in the Monmouthshire countryside some seven miles north of Abergavenny, above the river Honddu. The church is known, with justification, as "the crooked church" due to the crazy angles which parts of the structure skew from each other. It dates back to at least the Middle Ages and a dedication to St Martin is not common. The church, with another St Martin's at Bwlch Trewyn (now completely vanished without trace) is on the old pilgrimage route to St David's in Pembrokeshire (two pilgrimages to St David's equated to one pilgrimage to Rome).The church owes its crooked appearance to having been built on a landslip; Cwmyoy (Cwmiou, Cwm Iau) derives its name from the Welsh for "yoke", the landslip in the hill above leaving a yoke shape in the terrain. Legend has it that the landslip occurred at the time of the crucifixion. The tower leans 5.2 degrees out of perpendicular (the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 4.7 degrees).
Of interest are various monuments and the 13th/14th Century cross in the nave. This is unusual in that it shows Christ wearing a bishop's mitre. It is believed to have been one of the crosses marking the Pilgrims' Way to St David's. It was discovered buried on a nearby farm in 1861 and set up in the farm garden, being transferred to the tower inside the church in 1935. In 1967 it was stolen, but identified in an antiques shop in London and restored to the church where it is now set in concrete.
There is a simple font inside by the entrance , and in the churchyard, a mediaeval preaching cross.
St Martin's Church, Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire 15 July 2014
"Departed this transitory life..."
The urn represents itself as the repository of the soul; the inverted torches symbolise the extinguishing of life. The Greek key pattern is commonly seen on early 19th Century stones, following the Greek Revival in the country.
St Martin's is buried deep in the Monmouthshire countryside some seven miles north of Abergavenny, above the river Honddu. The church is known, with justification, as "the crooked church" due to the crazy angles which parts of the structure skew from each other. It dates back to at least the Middle Ages and a dedication to St Martin is not common. The church, with another St Martin's at Bwlch Trewyn (now completely vanished without trace) is on the old pilgrimage route to St David's in Pembrokeshire (two pilgrimages to St David's equated to one pilgrimage to Rome).The church owes its crooked appearance to having been built on a landslip; Cwmyoy (Cwmiou, Cwm Iau) derives its name from the Welsh for "yoke", the landslip in the hill above leaving a yoke shape in the terrain. Legend has it that the landslip occurred at the time of the crucifixion. The tower leans 5.2 degrees out of perpendicular (the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 4.7 degrees).
Of interest are various monuments and the 13th/14th Century cross in the nave. This is unusual in that it shows Christ wearing a bishop's mitre. It is believed to have been one of the crosses marking the Pilgrims' Way to St David's. It was discovered buried on a nearby farm in 1861 and set up in the farm garden, being transferred to the tower inside the church in 1935. In 1967 it was stolen, but identified in an antiques shop in London and restored to the church where it is now set in concrete.
There is a simple font inside by the entrance , and in the churchyard, a mediaeval preaching cross.