Supporting St Illtyd’s Church into the Future
Issue 2 – Easter 2025
Dear Friends of St Illtyd’s
You may not have been anticipating a second leaflet so soon after launching Llantrithyd Church Friends, but we felt it appropriate to send you something extra for Spring.
We have been very touched by the positive and enthusiastic response to the Friends of St Illtyd’s project and the generosity of so many people in the village. We currently have about 35 people who agreed to be signed up Friends, which, given the number of people in the village, represents a significant percentage of the population.
The visitors’ book bears witness to the fact that we have visitors from all over the world. I hope that, before long, at least some of them will feel moved to become Friends, and we will legitimately be able to call ourselves an international organisation. We’ll keep you posted on that!
Tied in with the subject of visitor numbers is the prospect of fitting a visitor counter courtesy of the National Churches Trust, who have recently awarded us a grant. The counter is free, and we are asked to report back on footfall to the NCT several times a year. This will be of great interest to us too as we are unsure quite how many people visit the church during the course of a week. Once we’ve received the counter and the initial data, we’ll keep the Friends in the loop.
On a less positive note, we have to report that we have had some thefts in the last few months. Candlesticks and a Cross have been taken, among several other items. As a consequence, we have had to remove a few remaining portable items, including the remaining glass and brass oil lamps. Some of you will remember these from the days before the Church was supplied with electricity in 2015.
Back to exciting and more positive news; Nick, a local member of the Church community has kindly agreed to help us develop a webpage for the Friends of Llantrithyd material. He has also agreed to create a 3d image of the Basset tomb which will make viewing it an amazing experience and put Llantrithyd Church on the map. We hope eventually to have a complete online video tour of the Church.
Finally, I would like to register my debt to Dr Alex Rees, who has been, and continues to be, the driving force behind the Friends project. Alex has done much of the legwork and has encouraged people to come on board. She also shares the role of Church coordinator with Alan Meredith and is currently Church warden of the East Vale Ministry Area. If anyone else locally feels able to assist in the Friends scheme in any way, we would be most grateful for any offers of help.
Blessings
Michael
Is it Compo or Mellors?
In our first edition of the Friends newsletter, we mentioned Jo Williams, who took on the mantle of Church organist soon after arriving in the village with her husband Peter in 1991. Tony Hooper, a local congregant, ‘collared’ her into playing the organ the following week, and she continued in the role thereafter.
Jo also tells the story of a Church fundraising event in the Summer of 1992 at the Church House. Jo and Peter arrived and were greeted by a man at the gate.
“I know who you are, but you don’t know who I am,” he said. He then claimed to be Llantrithyd’s answer to Lady Chatterley’s lover. This was the infamous local gamekeeper Len Mortimer, who, together with Peter Newton and Ron MacCarthy, formed Llantrithyd’s answer to Last of the Summer Wine.
Regularly to be seen sitting on the bench outside Cross Farm, Len’s abode. All three of these local characters are buried in the churchyard.
Jo and Peter lived in Tre Aubrey cottages, where the layout included an upstairs lounge and downstairs bedrooms. The vicar, Malcolm Davies, visited one day to greet the newly arrived Jo and Peter. Upon his arrival, he was momentarily taken aback when Jo asked him if he wanted to join her upstairs; he claimed he had never had such an offer before!
A Mystery Gardener
Some people have asked who usually looks after the grounds of the Church at Llantrithyd.
His name is Martin Elward, and his connection with the Church grounds goes back to the 1990s. His uncle started looking after the grounds as a labour of love because several family members were buried there.
Before he died, Martin’s uncle made him promise that he would carry on this family tradition and commitment, and Martin has done so diligently and faithfully at very little cost to the Church.
We are so grateful to him for his generosity and care in maintaining the grounds. He is especially watchful when mowing to ensure he doesn’t disturb the gorgeous wild flowers that emerge, especially in the Spring.
If you haven’t spotted the bluebells recently, it’s worth a visit while they’re still around. A huge thank you to Martin!
RIP Rev Dr Professor John Heywood Thomas.
We are sad to report that John Heywood-Thomas died recently at The Manor Residential home in St Hilary. John was very encouraging and enthusiastic about the Friends scheme at Llantrithyd and was one of our first signed-up members.
We send our love and sympathy to his family.
ADVANCED NOTICE OF AGM/OPEN DAY
THE FIRST FOR THE FRIENDS OF ST ILLTYD’S, LLANTRITHYD
SUNDAY 20TH JULY AT 3 PM
To include: refreshments, a chance to view the Church and the graveyard, the registers, vestments, silver, etc.
You’ll also meet other ‘Friends of St Illtyd’s’.
SPECIAL ITEM:
A talk from Madeleine Gray PhD, FRHistS, FSA (Professor Emerita of Ecclesiastical History, University of South Wales)
THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO ALL FRIENDS OF ST ILLTYD’S AND ANYONE ELSE WITH AN INTEREST IN THE CHURCH AND THE GROUNDS.
Tower Work
In the first edition of the Friends leaflet, we provided details of some of the work identified in a recent quinquennial report, including the replacement of some of the louvres in the tower.
We had hoped that the work would have started by now; however, we can report that the builder has said they’ll be able to commence at the end of May. The money raised through our Friends scheme will help towards the work on the tower. We are also benefiting from a grant from the Cherish fund, which the National Churches Trust has generously promised in conjunction with the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Be assured, we will take photos and report on progress once the work gets underway.
Tithe Barn
During some recent conversations with the Representative Body of the Church in Wales, we were intrigued to discover a revelation about the heavily wooded area in the north corner of the churchyard at the junction which leads down to the Old Rectory.
According to some records, this is the site of a tithe barn. The Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust notes the site as ‘The ancient hall in which the manorial courts were held, remains; it is now called the Church House’.
The archaeological record of this building can be viewed here.
We can’t be sure when it became derelict; perhaps a local history enthusiast might wish to investigate further?
The Yew Tree
Did you know that the yew tree in the churchyard is featured on a website dedicated to significant yew trees in churchyards across the country?
You can see for yourself if you visit here.
Yew trees have long been regarded as sacred. Because of their amazing longevity, they have been referred to as the ‘tree of life’. Our Celtic forebears revered all of nature, but yews always carried a special religious significance.
Churchyard Trees
Turning to the churchyard itself, some of you may be interested to hear that we’ve had a comprehensive report on the state of the trees in the churchyard.
This was commissioned by the Representative Body of the Church in Wales (R.B.), the legal owners of all churches and churchyards held by the Anglican Church in Wales.
The outcome is that quite a significant amount of work is needed to make the churchyard and church as safe as possible. Ash dieback affects woodlands all over the country, and they will be addressing this particularly.