Parish church of Skenfrith · Church in Wales

St Bridget's Church

Eglwys Sant Ffraid, Ynysgynwraidd

A small red-sandstone church beside the River Monnow, at the heart of Skenfrith for more than eight hundred years. Everyone is welcome, to a service or simply to sit quietly.

The nave of St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, looking east between round stone pillars and rows of oak pews, under the arched timber roof, to the chancel and its stained-glass east window — Looking up the nave to the chancel and east window.

Services and dates

Gwasanaethau

Sun8Nov

Remembrance Sunday 3pm
Service at the War Memorial, led by Jeremy Foster. There is no morning service at the church this Sunday.
Tue10Nov

Gather Around Together 3.30pmChildren
Stories, craft and play in Skenfrith Village Hall.
Sun15Nov

Holy Communion 9.15am
Led by Fr Julian Gray.

Sunday services are usually at 9.15am. Holy Communion is usually on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, with a visiting priest. On the first and third Sundays, Morning Prayer is led by members of the congregation: usually James Buchanan on the first Sunday and Jeremy Foster on the third.

Times sometimes change for festivals and for joint services with the other churches of the Grosmont Group, so please check the list above.

Children and families

Plant a theuluoedd

Gather Around Together is a new afternoon session for children in Skenfrith Village Hall, with Bible stories brought to life through craft and play. It started this autumn, and the first session drew around ten children.

Families from the village and around are very welcome. Volunteers to welcome people, make tea or help with food are always appreciated.

Inside St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, decorated for harvest festival, with the stone font, lime-washed walls and flagstone floor — St Bridget's dressed for harvest festival.

Harvest in church

This October the church was filled twice for harvest: once for the parish's own Harvest service, and again when Cross Ash School brought its children and families for their Harvest celebration.

A short history

Hanes

Building began in the reign of King John, and the church is traditionally said to have been consecrated in 1207. The aisles were added over the next two centuries. The church is dedicated to St Bridget of Kildare, known in Welsh as Sant Ffraid, and is a Grade I listed building.

The squat tower has immensely thick walls and is topped by a two-stage timber belfry with a pyramid roof, the kind known locally as a dovecote belfry. The roofs were renewed in 1896, and in 1909–10 the architect William Weir restored the church with advice from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, repairing rather than rebuilding.

Pen and ink drawing of St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, seen across the weir on the River Monnow, by Warren Williams, 1899 — Skenfrith Church from the Weir. Warren Williams, 1899

Pen and ink drawing of the porch and studded oak door of St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, by Warren Williams — Time-stained Oak Door

Pen and ink drawing of the small priest's door in the chancel wall of St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, among gravestones, by Warren Williams — Priest's Door

The tomb of John Morgan

Inside stands the carved chest tomb of John Morgan, who died in 1557. He was steward of the Duchy of Lancaster, the last governor of the Three Castles of Skenfrith, Grosmont and White Castle, and twice a Member of Parliament. He and his wife Anne, who died in 1564, are carved together on the lid.

Pen and ink drawing of the carved chest tomb of John Morgan in St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, with kneeling figures and a coat of arms, by Warren Williams, 1899 — Tomb of John Morgan

The Skenfrith Cope

The church's great treasure is a medieval embroidered vestment, the Skenfrith Cope. It was found in 1848 being used as an altar cloth. After careful conservation it came home to Skenfrith on St Bridget's Day, 1 February 2013, and is now shown in a case in the church. The Friends of St Bridget's raised most of the cost.

1207: Traditional date of consecration
1557: Death of John Morgan, buried in the church
1848: The Skenfrith Cope rediscovered
1909–10: Restoration by William Weir; new lectern by George Jack, with a figure of St Bridget
2013: The conserved Cope returns on St Bridget's Day

For more of Skenfrith's story, and more of Warren Williams's drawings of the village, castle and river, see the Skenfrith history page at Ruthlin.

Pen and ink drawing of the interior of St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, with carved pew panels and pointed arches, before the 1910 restoration, by Warren Williams, 1899 — Before Reparation in 1910

Inside St Bridget's

Y tu mewn

Lime-washed walls, worn stone pillars and old oak pews, dressed with flowers through the seasons. Photographs by J. Foster.

Harvest apples, hops and autumn leaves laid along the stone step of a carved oak pew in St Bridget's Church, with a flower arrangement and a pot of pampas grass — Harvest apples, hops and pampas along the carved oak pew.

Small tables with patterned cloths and vases of roses set out in the aisle of St Bridget's, beneath two painted Commandment boards, beside a round stone pillar — Tables laid in the aisle, beneath the painted Commandment boards.

An arrangement of orange roses and white chrysanthemums in front of the stone pulpit at St Bridget's, with a green fall embroidered IHS — Autumn flowers at the stone pulpit.

An enamel jug of teasels and garden flowers at the foot of a round stone pillar between oak pews in St Bridget's — Teasels and garden flowers at the foot of a nave pillar.

Pampas grass in an old earthenware pot in a sunlit corner of St Bridget's, against carved oak panelling beneath a leaded window — Pampas grass by the window, against the carved panelling.

Visiting

Ymweld

St Bridget's stands at the north end of Skenfrith village, a few steps from the ruins of Skenfrith Castle and the bridge over the River Monnow. The church is usually open during the day for visitors.

Look out for the dovecote belfry, John Morgan's tomb, the Skenfrith Cope in its case, the Jacobean pew, and George Jack's carved lectern of St Bridget.

St Bridget's Church, Skenfrith, Monmouthshire NP7 8UG

Pen and ink drawing of Skenfrith churchyard with a woman on a bench beneath a great tree and a man at the gate, by Warren Williams, 1899 — The churchyard

Pen and ink drawing of Skenfrith village and its stone bridge over the River Monnow, framed by trees, by Warren Williams — Skenfrith Bridge

Get in touch

Cysylltu

For baptisms, weddings, funerals, or to have village or church news shared with the Skenfrith community, please contact the Grosmont Group office.

Grosmont Group office

Carli, Group Administrator
grosgroup.pa@gmail.com

Carli works a few hours each week; every email is read and answered.

Friends of St Bridget's

A local charity that raises money to repair and care for the church building. New Friends are always welcome.