The Church is dedicated to Saint Wonnow or Winwaloe, an Abbot or Confessor. The Saint’s name is given differently as Winwalloe, Gwenaloe, Wingualvens, Winwaloy and Walovay. At the Abbey of Landevennec, Brittany, he is known as Gwenhole.

The history of the Saint is confused and in part mythological. It would appear he was born in Wales of Celtic parents, some time in the mid 5th or 6th century (in Britain it is thought either 457 or 462; at Landevennec it is thought during the 6th Century) and died 532 approx. The family were driven out of Wales by Saxon invaders and settled in France. Young Winwalloe became a disciple of Abbot Budoc and after a short time in Ireland was asked by the Abbot to set up a settlement with eleven monks on the island of Tibidi near Brest. After three years the island was thought to be unsuitable and the monks moved to Landevennec on the River Aulne near Brest. There a semi-fortified monastery was built – the ruins and museum are well worth visiting.

Besides Wonastow, there are churches dedicated to St Winwalloe at East Portlemouth and Gunwalloe in the West Country near Heston, probably following the movements of monks from Llandevennec during periods of persecution.

The first church on this site at Wonastow appears to have been built in the 7th century when Cynfwr ap Lago gave the church and village to the Church in Llandaff. The price he paid for this property was given in old records as:-

a good horse
the value of twelve cows
a hawk
a useful dog worth three cows
a second horse worth three cows

The Church went with the Manor from the early 16th century and until the early 20th century was in the gift of the Milborne family. (The family tree hangs in the nave.)

John Milborne, High Sherrif, was a supporter of the Parliamentarians during the civil war. Troops were garrisoned at Wonastow Court and their horses stabled in the church.

The present building was greatly restored in the 1860s. In 1863 the floor was placed over several tombs in the chancel. A plaque giving the names, dating from 1695 to 1804, is on the north wall.

Further restoration was made by Sir John and Lady Searle after they came from Dartmouth to live at Wonastow Court in the 1880s. In 1913 they presented a Rood Screen and an oak reredos.

The steep roof, supported by four pairs of unusual hammer beams, is centuries old. This was restored in 1977 mainly by parochial effort.

The church is basically an early English building of the 12th century with a western tower surmounted by a lantern and pryamadical roof.

The porch was added in the early 1900s, a present by Lady Searle.

As you enter the porch you will see a statue of the Madonna and Child, and looking up at her, a couple of angels with Rossetti faces. There is a holy water stoup near the main door. The font is embellished with traditional Norman cable moulding. The screen, which is of extreme beauty, is modern. In the windows is some black and yellow glass which is believed to be fragments of old windows.

The altar, which was given by Lady Adela Searle, and consecrated by Charles, Lord Bishop of Monmouth, in 1922, has consecration crosses on the slab and symbols of alpha, omega and the chi-ro monogram are in the front panels. It is in this altar that the relics of St Sebastian, St Hilary and St Agatha, which were brought from the city of Rome, were deposited by Fr George Lovibond, a former priest of St Wonnow’s.

The Reredos is modern and contains figures of the Virgin Mary, St Dubritius, St Peter and St Joseph. To the left of the altar is the Sacrament House with tabernacle and two adoring angels.

To the right of the altar is the canopied memorial to John and Christian Milborne, once owners of Wonastow Court. Although John died in 1637 and their figures have disappeared, their four sons and seven daughters can still be seen at prayer, wearing Stuart costume.

At the west end of the church is a Hatchment bearing 1 and 4, Argent, a cross moline sable pierce of the field (Milborne); 2 and 3 ermine, two bars gules, each charged with three mullets or pierced of the second. On an escutcheon of pretence: 1 and 4 sable, a chevron between three gauntlets or (Gunter); 2 and 3, Argent, a chevron gules between three bulls heads coupled sable (Bullen). Crest: a demi-lion rampant sable, holding a cross moline sable pierced argent.

This is the achievement of George Milborne Esq, who married Mary Gunter of Abergavenny. The Hatchment was restored in 1978 by Major-General LHO Pugh, DSO, CB CE, of Wonastow House.

In the vestry at the back of the church, above the Timber louvres of the Tower, hang two bells, one of 1769 and the other a ‘Ting Tang’ of 1778.

The records of the parish (births, marriages, deaths) date back to 1674.

Wonastow Parish has always been small both in area and numbers. In 1890 there were 127 parishioners, in 1990 there were 71. In the Parish there is also a small but well attended Methodist Chapel. Relationships between Church and Chapel are excellent with members attending both, particularly at festivals.

The name Mitchel Troy is derived from the Welsh name Llanfihangel Troddi which means St Michael by the Trothy. The River Trothy rises in Glen Trothy, three miles east of Llanvihangel Crucorney, then wanders mostly south to pass a field north of the church before flowing into the Wye a mile below Troy House. On the opposite wall is a stained glass window and brass plate to the Revd. Everett, who supervised the restoration. The architect was John Pritchard, the Diocesan architect, who with his partner, JP Sneddon, restored Llandaff Cathedral. Outside at the base of the tower is a stone inscribed ‘Orate Peo Godfride et Johanne’ which is said to be a foundation stone. Members of the Beaufort family were officers of the church in the 19th century. Henry George Talbot was vicar 1825-67; he was the son of the Dean of Salisbury and was married to the daughter of the 5th Duke. He was succeeded by Boscawen Somerset, 1867-74.

INSIDE THE CHURCH

The elaborate font, decorated with netted fish and water lilies, was installed at the reconstruction and is to the left of the South door. To the right is the old Norman font which was found in the Rectory shrubbery some years ago.

There are some interesting stone corbels. On the south wall is an otter with a fish it has just caught. In the middle of the north wall are some flowers and to the right of the entrance to the organ chamber are some wheat and hops. On the outside of the organ chamber five decorations show: an owl, a daffodil, a hawk or kestrel, a flower and a nest of small birds being fed by their mother. Above the nave the corbels are alternately the Beaufort device (a portcullis) and the Cross of St George (at the time of the reconstruction the church belonged to the Church of England).

At the reconstruction an ancient stone altar was found buried at the end of the South aisle. It was in two pieces, of different stone. The five consecration crosses representing the five wounds of Christ were also of two different styles. The slab was remounted under the East window of the South aisle to serve as an altar for the Lady Chapel. Under it is a rather decayed old tombstone which was brought into the church in an attempt to preserve it. It was to Philip Stead, churchwarden in 1723; it read:

Life is unsartin
and death is shuer
sin is the wound
Christ is the cuer.

Also found was a stone which had been used as a piscina but when turned over was found to be the lid of a child’s coffin of early date. This has now been set in the wall of the South aisle.

At the end of the North aisle is a black marble slab incised with a reproduction of the Last Supper by Michaelangelo. It has been crudely mounted in an old communion table.

In 1876 on the choir stalls were erected carved figures of angels playing musical instruments, presumably taken from Psalm 150. Unfortunately these were stolen in March, 1995. They have now been replaced by finials depicting oak, ash, holly, ivy, hawthorn and bramble, carved by John Nethercott and Co. of Hereford and Presteigne.

In the tower are three ancient bells. They are inscribed:

1. G Tyler: H Williams: C Warden EE 1710
2. CACHMAI: Tyler: William: Tucker: Churchwarden 1656
3. Wm Robinson Rector: Phil Stead: Ch Warden EE WE 1723.

The second bell is interesting as it dates from the Commonwealth when the rector had been elected and the church was served by John Hardwicke whose tomb, inscribed ‘preacher of God’s word’ lay on the South side of the chancel.

STAINED GLASS

Opposite the entrance is a window to the Revd Everett. In balanced positions in the North and South aisle are windows to the two army Lieuts. Trower who died in the South African wars. Nearby is a brass plaque to Lt CJ Trower, RN who also died in South Africa.

At the West end of the Chancel are windows to the wife and daughter of the Revd Talbot.

The East Window represents the Ascension.

In the South wall is a window to the wife of the Revd. Sneyd, who gave the Lady Chapel in memory of his son.

At the West end is a window to General EH Somerset, of the Beaufort family, who died in 1886. Nearby are plaques to his son and daughter who died in 1866 and 1883.

OUTSIDE THE CHURCH

The lych gate is roofed in graded stone.

There is a churchyard cross, probably of the 15th century, which is missing the cross and top. It is decorated with ball flowers which are repeated on the pulpit and reredos.

In the spring the churchyard is rich in flowers – snowdrops, primroses, crocus, wood anenomes, daffodils, cowslips, marguerites, red campions, sweet violets, herb robert, lilac, clover.

The Dedication is to Thomas a Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in 1170. There are, or were formerly, a number of these dedications in the area, others being at Shirenewton, Wolvesnewton, Wyesham, Ganarew and (probably) Penrhos. Such dedications doubtless had a political background reflecting the attitude of the Church in the struggle with the King which had brought about St Thomas’s death.

The present church, or part of it, is known to have been in use in 1186 when it was mentioned in the Bull of Pope Urban III. Its original construction can therefore be dated as having taken place in all probability between 1170 and 1186. There may well have been an earlier structure on the site.

Charles Heath, writing in 1800, claimed to identify Saxon features in the arches and windows, but the evidence for this is uncertain.

Some fifty years after being built, in 1233, the church was damaged by fire (as was Monnow Bridge) in the course of the Battle of Monmouth, an action in the baronial uprising against Henry III. In the following year the King authorised the Constable of St Briavels to supply thirteen oaks from the Forest of Dean to repair the damage. In the year 1256 there is an unusual reference to the fact that anchorites were living in St Thomas’s.

For the next five hundred years, or more, information about the church is sparse.

In 1479 an Indulgence was granted by the Bishop of Hereford for the repair of the church, but in 1543 John Leland wrote (of the Monnow Gate) “beyond this gate is a suburb in the diocese of Llandaff where once stood the parish church of Saint Thomas, but now only a little chapel dedicated to the saint.”

At about this time the Monmouth Cap came into prominence. There is a widespread belief that manufacture of the famous cap was centred in Overmonnow which, as a result, became known as Cappers’ Town and Saint Thomas’s as Cappers’ Church. Mr Kissack however has pointed out (a) that nowhere in the known records is Overmonnow referred to as Cappers’ Town, nor is the term used in an contemporary accounts of Monmouth.

In 1611 John Speed published a map of Monmouth, believed to be reasonably accurate, which showed St Thomas’s Church with a square castellated tower at the Western end of a small building.

For the next two hundred years or more there is little information to be had. In the general decline in church-going during the period, Monmouth lost four of its mediaeval churches and Saint Thomas’s probably came close to suffering the same fate. A contemporary picture shows a scene of neglect and decay. The church was for many years a Chapel of Ease to Saint Mary’s Parish Church, and was used for services only on Tuesday.

In 1830 Saint Thomas’s again became a separate parish and major restoration of the church was undertaken by Thomas Henry Wyatt, a prolific architect whose uncle was agent to the Duke of Beaufort at Troy House. Wyatt installed new pews and galleries made from oak grown of the Beaufort estates. Wyatt rebuilt the West front in brick and added a turret. This turret, depicted in a print of c.1850 has been described as being “curiously slavonic”.

Further extensive restoration was carried out in 1874/5 by John Pritchard an architect who had been assistant to the famous Augustus Pugin. Wyatt’s turret was replaced and the West doorway reconstructed in stone.

The vestries were added in 1887/8. The present East window dates from 1957.

In 1989-91 an extensive restoration was carried out costing £72,000, under the direction of Jonathan Price, an architect of the firm of Hook Mason of Hereford. The heating system installed in 1966 had its oil-fired boiler replaced by a gas boiler.

A church has been on this site since 1101AD when it formed part of a Benedictine Priory founded by Withenoc – Lord of Monmouth c.1075 – c.1082. The mother church was located in St Florent just outside Saumur in France. After the disestablishment of the monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII, the church went into decay – Monmouth Priory was dissolved in 1536.

The church was later restored by the Georgians, under the guidance of Smith of Warwick in 1773 and further by the Victorians, under the architect George Edmund Street in 1882 at a cost of £6172.00. The spire rises to 60m. and is the work of Nathaniel Wilkinson of Worcester.

The oldest surviving part of the original church is the Norman respond set into the tower which itself is 14th century.

Today’s church is a Victorian remodelling of a Georgian church which cost just over £6000 – the original designs cost £22,000 which could not be raised.  The interior dates from 1882 and was designed to accommodate 1000 people.  Both chapels were later additions.  Many pews have now been removed and replaced by chairs..    The pipe organ to the left of the chancel was rebuilt in 1992 and further dated in 1997 by Nicholson and co.

The Lady Chapel

The Lady Chapel contains an ‘English Altar’ with four riddel posts each with an unusual brass base and wrought iron capital supporting a newly gilded angel. The screen features the remarkable ironwork and woodwork of Letheren and Martin. H.H.Martin made the Speaker’s Chair in the House of Commons and the pulpit of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Lady Chapel contains the Reserved Sacrament and is used every day for morning and evening prayer.

 The High Altar and Reredos

The high altar is backed by a reredos in the form of a picture which features the ‘Adoration of the Magi’.  It was painted by Watney Wilson RA and dated 1888.  Very little is known about the artist.

The Rood
The Rood (Anglo-Saxon word for CROSS) dominates the entrance to the Chancel in the church. On the rood, Mary and John are shown at the foot of the cross. This is in accordance with what we are told in the Gospel according to St. John.  (John 19:25,26).

The rood was originally plain wood but was painted in the early 70’s to fit into the colour scheme of the church dictated by the rich but deep colours of the stained glass windows.

The rood screen used to separate the Chancel from the Nave but was partly removed and relocated towards the back of the church to form a Narthex.

The Windows

Most of the stained glass is from the studios of Charles Eamer Kempe, a notable Victorian stain glass artist whose glass is to be found in some of the finest cathedrals in Great Britain.

The windows carry his trademark of three wheatsheaves or one wheatsheaf.  The most notable window is located in the tower at the West end of the church.  It is called the ‘Four Rivers Window’ and has Baptism as it’s theme – the four rivers are named in the window as Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates.  The reticulated tracery dates from c.1340 whilst the window is dated 1883.

The royal connection with Monmouth is further seen in the ‘Four Edwards Window’ on the South wall.  It features Edward VII who was a good friend of our local Lord Llangattock of the Hendre. The other three kings are Edward the Confessor, Edward I – the creator of Parliament and Edward the Black Prince.

The windows in the lady Chapel have as their subject The Passion. The window on the East wall depicts Christ on the Cross, flanked by St.Mary and St John. Tapestries hang behind each figure. Below the cross are seen the descent from the Cross, the Entombment and the Descent into Hell. One scene shows the devil crushed underneath the doors of Hell as Christ bursts in.

The window on the South wall features events preceding the Crucifixion. The top light shows Pilate presenting Christ to the Jews and Jesus with the sleeping disciples whilst the bottom lights show Christ carrying his cross and the soldiers mocking Jesus.

Boer War window at St Mary’s Church
Showing Henry V, the Medieval Monnow Bridge and Monmouth Borough Seal. 

Geoffrey’s Window

The Priory buildings are located across the green from the church and feature ‘Geoffrey’s Window’. This fine oriel window has the carved 15th century figures of a Knight, an Angel and a Miller supporting the bay.

Geoffrey of Monmouth is renowned for his book on the ‘History of the British Kings’ in which there are references to King Lear and the exploits of King Arthur.

The Icon

The word Icon is a Greek word meaning ‘image’. The icon that you see is that of ‘The mother of God of the Sign’. The Greek letters stand for ‘Mother of God’ -‘He who is’ – and ‘Jesus Christ’. The Church in Wales has an official Iconographer -The Revd. Brian Bessant who prayed through the painting of this Icon. One of the many prayers that can be said as you look upon this Icon is:

Lord God,
As I stand before this icon
Help me to understand that it is not so much I who is
Looking at you, rather, through this icon, Lord, it is
You who are looking at me.

Icons have new meanings to every onlooker. Perhaps Mary is saying: ‘ look! – take from me the very essence of my humanity and godliness – Jesus Christ.’
What do you think?

The Font

The Font of carved Portland stone and green Genoa marble was installed in the present position in 1982.

The Bells

There is a peal of eight bells which were recast by Abraham Rudhall in 1706 and renovated and rehung in 1982. A new oak and glass panelled screen fronts the new entrance to the tower and is the only memorial to the crew of H.M.S. Monmouth, which was lost with all 687 hands in 1914 off the coast of Chile.

The precise origins of the bells are unknown but prior to 1678 there were 5 bells. The sixth bell was cast on Jan.19th. 1678 by John Pennington, a local bell maker. At least two of the bells were removed and recast on the 23rd. June 1685 by Rudhall’s Bell Foundry in Gloucester. All the bells were rehung by Evan Evans of Chepstow in 1704 at a cost of £3.00. The existing ring of eight were recast in 1706 by Abraham Rudhall at a cost of £60. Oil for the new bells was 10 d a half pint in 1706.

In 1883 the bell frame was replaced at a cost of £200 by a new timber frame inscribed ‘George Day & Son, Church Bell Hangers, Eye, Suffolk, 1883’. All eight bells were overhauled in 1953 by Gillett & Johnson of Croydon. The bells fell silent in 1972 for repairs to the steeple which was seen to sway when the bells were rung. A new bell frame was installed in 1982 and the bells retuned by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry at a cost of £22,000. The bells are now pealed from a platform above the new entrance to the church.

The first recorded peal of five thousand and forty changes was mentioned in Pugh’s Hereford Journal on Wednesday 21st. December 1791. Local tradition has it that at least one of the bells was presented to the church by Henry V who took issue with having bells rung as he left Calais.