NoeFlandre/osm-polygon-wikidata-only huggingface dataset:
St David's Church, Llanddew

St David's Church is an active parish church in the village of Llanddew, Powys, Wales. It stands next to the castle, some 2km to the north-east of Brecon. It is traditionally associated with Gerald of Wales, who served as Archdeacon of Brecon and lived in the castle in the late 12th century. Ruined by the mid-19th century, the church was restored by Ewan Christian. St David's is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building. History It is probable that the earliest structure on the site was a clas church, traditionally dating back to the 6th century. The present church stands adjacent to the castle, in the centre of the village of Llanddew, some 2km north-east of Brecon. Cadw dates it to the 13th century. In the Middle Ages the castle was the residence of the Archdeacon of Brecon, a post held in the late 1100s by Gerald of Wales who is traditionally associated with the church. The church tower was rebuilt in 1629 and further renovation took place in the 18th century. By the mid-19th century the building was in ruins, and restoration was undertaken by Ewan Christian, in two phases between 1883-1884 and in 1900. A further renovation took place in 1960. The church remains an active parish church in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon and regular services are held. Architecture and description The church is built to a cruciform plan, with a nave, chancel, transepts and a central tower. The south porch dates from the Ewan Christian reconstruction. Robert Scourfield and Richard Haslam, in their Powys volume in the Buildings of Wales series, describe it as "superficially, a convincingly 12th to 13th century church" before giving details of the multiple restorations. The building materials are local sandstones with a shale tile roof. The churchyard is roughly circular, supporting the interpretation of its origins as a clas settlement. St David's is a Grade I listed building. Its lychgate is listed at Grade II. Notes References Sources Scourfield, Robert; Haslam, Richard (2013). Powys: Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire. The Buildings of Wales. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18508-9. OCLC 863678002. External links RCAHMW Coflein photographic record
St Elvan's Church, Aberdare

St Elvan's Church is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in the centre of the town of Aberdare. It was built in 1851–1852, largely at the instigation of John Griffith, vicar of Aberdare from 1847 until 1859. On 11 December 1849 Griffith wrote at length to the Incorporated Church Building Society in relation to the position of the Church of England in the parish of Aberdare. The population of the parish was close to 14,000 people and increasing at a rate of approximately a thousand each year, yet the ancient parish church of St John's could accommodate fewer than two hundred people. Foundation A campaign to build a new church at Aberdare was launched in 1850 when a public meeting was held, and within nine days a £1,000 had been raised by public subscription. By February 1851, subscriptions amounted to £2,500, just £500 short of the £3,000 that was deemed necessary to pay for the new building. Andrew Moseley was chosen as the architect to draw up the plans for the church. By February 1852, however, it was realised that insufficient funds were available and another campaign for public subscriptions took place. Within a few months, the work had been completed and St Elvan's Church was officially opened by services led by Alfred Ollivant, Bishop of Llandaff, on 30 September 1852. Special trains were laid on from Cardiff, Swansea and Neath, among other place, to mark the occasion. The congregation included strong representation from the gentry families of Glamorgan, as well as schoolgirls from the school run at Dowlais by Lady Charlotte Guest, dressed in Welsh costume. St Elvan's was consecrated on 25 September 1854. Re-ordering The interior of the church was re-ordered and redecorated by Stephen Dykes Bower in 1961. Official Website The official website and accompanying social media for St Elvan's Church is available at https://www.stelvans.com Sources Jones, Ieuan Gwynedd (1987). Communities. Essays in the Social History of Victorian Wales. Llandysul: Gomer. ISBN 0-86383-223-7. Wills, Wilton D. (1969). "The Rev. John Griffith and the revival of the established church in nineteenth century Glamorgan" (PDF). Morgannwg. 13: 75–102. Retrieved 6 November 2013. References
St John's Church, Aberdare

St John the Baptist's is an ancient parish church in the centre of the town of Aberdare, Wales. History The original parish church was built in 1189. Some of its original architecture is still intact. John Wesley preached on two occasions at St John's in 1749. By the first half of the nineteenth century, St Johns's could only accommodate 250 people although the parish of Aberdare had a population of 13,000. The condition of the church was said to be poor, and one commentator stated that the parishioners worshipped their maker in darkness. By 1853, the burial ground was full and the vicar, John Griffith, reported that until the ground was drained last year there was so much water in the soil that the coffins were often floating in it. The drainage now is not very complete. It took Griffith ten years to instigate the restoration of the church at a cost of £900, and it only became suitable for regular worship once again shortly before his departure to be rector of Merthyr Tydfil. In the meantime, Griffith had instigated the building of St Elvan's Church, commonly known as the Cathedral of the Valleys, within sight of the older building. The building is Grade II* listed. References Sources Books and Journals Jones, Ieuan Gwynedd (1987). Communities. Essays in the Social History of Victorian Wales. Llandysul: Gomer. ISBN 0-86383-223-7. Wills, Wilton D. (1969). "The Rev. John Griffith and the revival of the established church in nineteenth century Glamorgan". Morgannwg. 13: 75–102. Retrieved 6 November 2013. Online Rammell, Thomas Webster (1853). "Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the inhabitants of the parish of Aberdare in the county of Glamorgan". Internet Archive. General Board of Health. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bleddfa

St Mary Magdalene's Church is an active parish church in the village of Bleddfa, Powys, Wales. Tradition asserts that a clas church was founded on the site by St Brendan the Navigator in the 6th century but there is neither documentary or built evidence to support the claim. The present church dates from the 13th century. The bellcote was built in 1711 and the church restored in the early 20th century and again in the 1970s. St Mary Magdalene's is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building. History The Church of St Mary Magdalene stands in a large churchyard in the centre of the village of Bleddfa, to the south-west of Knighton. A strong local tradition asserts that a clas church was founded on the site by St Brendan the Navigator in the 6th century, but there is neither documentary or built evidence to support the claim. Cadw dates the present church to the early 13th century. Masonry foundations exist to show that the church once had a tower, by tradition this was destroyed by Owain Glyndŵr in his rebellion in 1402. The present bellcote dates from 1711. Restoration was undertaken in 1907 and further renovations were undertaken internally and externally in the mid-20th century, with further internal modifications in 2008. The church remains an active parish church in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon and occasional services are held. Architecture and description St Mary's consists of a nave, chancel, the ruins of a western tower, south porch and a bellcote. The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust survey undertaken in 1995 notes that the building materials are sandstone and shale. Robert Scourfield and Richard Haslam, in their Powys volume in the Buildings of Wales series, describe the interior as "luminous", which they attribute to the mid-century renovations of George Pace who removed the pews and many of the internal fittings. St Mary Magdalene's is as a Grade I listed building. The former vicarage is listed at Grade II. Gallery Notes References Sources Scourfield, Robert; Haslam, Richard (2013). Powys: Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire. The Buildings of Wales. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18508-9. OCLC 863678002. External links
St Silin's Church, Llansilin

St Silin's Church is a Church in Wales parish church in Llansilin, Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. The present building, which has parts dating back to the 13th century, is a Grade I listed building. It stands on a site that has been used by Christian communities since the Dark Ages. The church is dedicated to Saint Silin, now better known as Saint Sulien, the 6th-century founder-abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan in Cornwall. St Silin was the only parish in the Welsh Marches on the England–Wales border that voted to leave the Church of England under provisions of the Welsh Church Act 1914 that led to the creation of the Church in Wales. History The church was constructed out of wood in a cruciform shape as a Clas, though it was damaged during Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion and the nave was rebuilt in stone. A 13th-century lancet remains a part of the current building. During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads used the church as a barracks and the south door for target practice with muskets. It was also shot at by Royalist forces sieging the church; the door is still in use and still retains the bullet holes. The wooden spire of the church burned down in the 1800s and a replacement stone tower was built in 1832. Parish St Silin's Church serves the Welsh parish of Llansilin in the Diocese of St Asaph. Part of the parish crosses the England–Wales border to include part of the English county of Shropshire owing to boundary changes made by King Henry VIII in 1536. As a result of the ecclesiastical border crossing the temporal border, in 1915 the Welsh Church Commissioners, acting under the Welsh Church Act 1914, classed Llansilin as one of 19 border parishes, meaning that residents of the parish were entitled to take part in the Church of England border polls 1915–1916 to determine if they wished to stay with the established Church of England or join the Church in Wales when it was separated and disestablished. The referendum results for 17 of the 19 parishes were published in the House of Commons, all in favour of remaining part of the Church of England. However, in the parishes of Llansilin and Rhydycroesau, the result was considered too close to call. A second poll was therefore held in 1916; Llansilin voted to join the Church in Wales by 255–228, becoming the only parish in the referendums to do so. As a result, the parish contains the only part of England where the church is under the jurisdiction of the Church in Wales instead of the Church of England, and so is unique in England in having a disestablished church. Listed building St Silin's Church was granted Grade I listed status in 1966. The reason given for the listing was because the church was "preserving unusually fine 15th century and some earlier fabric, plus important post-mediaeval features, and which has undergone sensitive restoration by Baker in the 19th century leading to a result of exceptional character." References
Ty-mawr Farmhouse, Cwmyoy

Ty-mawr Farmhouse, Ffwthog, Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire, is a farmhouse dating from the early 16th century, which was extended in the 17th century and then reduced in size in the 18th century. The farmhouse is a Grade II* listed building, with its range of barns and its bee shelter having separate Grade II listed building designations. History The original farmhouse dates from the early 16th century. In the 17th century, the house was extended and a new range constructed to a traditional H-plan. In the 18th century, the building was reduced in size, particularly impacting on the original 16th-century building, of which little remains but the two-storey porch, which formed the dairy to the 18th century house. The farmhouse remains a private residence and the architectural historian John Newman remarks on a "careful restoration" dating from 1995 to 1996. Architecture and description Cadw records that the farmhouse is of two storeys with attics. The building is of stone, which has been rendered, under a stone tile roof. The interior shows evidence that the farmhouse may have housed two separate households in the 17th century. The farmhouse is listed Grade II*. Adjacent to the house is the "impressive" seven-bay barn dating from the 17th century, which has its own Grade II listing. There is also a Grade II listed bee-shelter, which may date from the 19th century or may be earlier. In 2013 the bee-shelter was on the Brecon Beacons National Park Buildings at risk register. Notes References Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.
Lake Vyrnwy Straining Tower

The Straining Tower at Lake Vyrnwy is an intake tower built to extract water from the lake. The tower stands on the north shore of Lake Vyrnwy, near the village of Llanwddyn, in Powys, Wales. The Lake Vyrnwy dam project, designed to provide a water supply to Liverpool, began in 1881. On its completion 11 years later, the lake was the largest reservoir in Europe and water was drawn from it into the straining tower and carried to Liverpool on a 110-kilometre (68 mi)-long aqueduct. The engineers for the project were Thomas Hawksley and George Frederick Deacon, although the straining tower was entirely Deacon's design. The tower is constructed in a Gothic Revival style, influenced by Chillon Castle in Switzerland as well as the contemporaneous work of William Burges. The straining tower is a Grade I listed building. History The Lake Vyrnwy dam project was part of a national endeavour to supply water for drinking and sanitation to the expanding Victorian cities of the Industrial Revolution. Construction of the dam, which involved the relocation of the village of Llanwddyn, began in 1881, the lake was filled by 1888, and the first supplies of water to Liverpool, 68 miles away, began in July 1892. During construction, 44 workmen died – 10 from workplace accidents – and are commemorated in a memorial at the lake. Another commemorative stone celebrates the official commencement of the reservoir's construction on 14 July 1881 by Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis. On its completion, the lake was the largest reservoir in Europe, and the aqueduct to Liverpool the longest in the world. Water is extracted from the lake through the straining tower. Designed by George Frederick Deacon and completed in 1892, the tower extracts water from the lake by hydraulic pressure. It contains three filtration strainers which were used to cleanse the lake water before onward transportation. They have now been superseded by modern purification facilities located away from the lake. Architecture The tower stands 52 metres (171 ft) high, and is constructed of concrete faced with snecked rubble. Deacon used the Gothic Revival style, and the Buildings of Wales series notes that he was "clearly influenced by William Burges". The circular tower is topped by an octagonal turret with a range of pyramidal roofs of copper. The straining tower is a Grade I listed building. The Cadw listing records the traditional suggestion that Deacon was influenced by Chillon Castle in his choice of style, but supports Pevsner in suggesting that contemporary (and relatively local) examples by Burges were the more likely sources. Notes References Sources Scourfield, Robert; Richard, Haslam (2013). Powys: Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire. The Buildings of Wales. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18508-9. OCLC 935421607.
Tabernacle Baptist Chapel, Cwmyoy

The Tabernacle Baptist Chapel, Ffwthog, near Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire is a Baptist chapel, with attached manse, dating from 1837. Largely unaltered externally and internally, the chapel is a Grade II* listed building. History and description The chapel was built in 1837 and carries the date in a tablet above the entrance gable. The inscription reads; "TABERNACLE Baptist Chapel ST. JT. Builders. 1837." The manse is attached to the chapel, which has a Grade II* listing as "a little-altered example." The architectural historian John Newman describes the chapel as; "a simple gable-ended building." It is constructed of Old Red Sandstone rubble, with a Welsh slate roof. The porch is 20th century but the doors are original. The interior has a seating gallery on three sides, supported by cast iron pillars. Newman reports; "long rows of hat-pegs at both levels." Notes References Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.
Pontypridd Municipal Buildings

The Municipal Buildings (Welsh: Adeiladau Bwrdeistrefol Pontypridd) is a municipal building located on Gelliwastad Road, Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales. The structure, which is currently used as a register office, is a Grade II* listed building. History Following significant population growth, largely associated with coal mining and the local ironworks, a local board of health was established in Pontypridd in 1873. After the local board was succeeded by Pontypridd Urban District Council in 1894, the new council decided to commission municipal offices. The site they selected was on the northwest side of Morgan Street. Henry Hare won a competition to design the new building, and construction started in 1903. It was designed in the Baroque style, built in rubble masonry with ashlar stone dressings, and was officially opened by the member of parliament, Alfred Thomas, in April 1906. Hare's design provided a council chamber and offices at right-angles. The building continued to serve as the offices of the urban district council for much of the 20th century, and became the headquarters of the enlarged Taff-Ely District Council when it was established in 1974. However, it ceased to be the local seat of government when the new unitary authority, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, was formed in 1996, and subsequently became the local register office. Architecture The building is constructed of rubble masonry, with stone dressings, and a slate roof. It has two storeys and an attic. The main front is three bays wide and topped by an octagonal bellcote with a weathervane. The ground floor has semicircular arches, within which the main entrance and windows are deeply recessed. There are sculptures designed by John Dudley Forsyth and niches with staircases. The east side has 11 bays, with the end bays brought forward. The interior is well preserved; the main entrance leads to a lobby with a stone staircase, while upstairs are the council chamber, committee room and mayor's parlour, each with original furniture. The chamber is described by CADW as "exceptionally fine", with seating in a "D" formation, stained glass, and a vaulted ceiling on pilasters. The parlour also has an elaborate ceiling, and the committee room has its original chimneypiece. The building was grade II* listed in 1990. See also Grade II* listed buildings in Rhondda Cynon Taf References
St Catherine's Church, Pontypridd

St Catherine's Church, Pontypridd is a large listed parish church in the town of Pontypridd in South Wales. It is part of the Diocese of Llandaff in the Church in Wales. It is now part of the Parish of Pontypridd, which joined the Pontypridd and Ynysybwl Anglican Churches together to form one large Parish. History The church was built in response to the growing population of Pontypridd, which had swelled as the town industrialised in the 19th century. By the middle decades of the 1800s, the town had about 5000 inhabitants. Although eight nonconformist chapels and a synagogue had opened, there was still no Anglican church: the nearest was St Mary's in Glyntaff, which was swiftly becoming too small and too far away. A site for the church which would become St Catherine's was donated by the Revd. G. Thomas in 1866. The church was designed by John Norton. It was a development of the design of St David's Church in Neath, which Norton had designed in 1864–1866. The interior was influenced by the design by George Edmund Street for the church of St James the Less, Pimlico, recently completed in 1861. The church building was completed in 1870, but an extra aisle was added in 1885, and the clock faces were installed during a restoration by Kempson & Fowler in 1890. A north vestry was added in 1915. In 1919 Giles Gilbert Scott modified the chancel, whitewashing the interior walls and adding new stalls and a reredos. In 1933 a west porch was added. There is much stained glass in the church: most significantly the five windows in the north aisle dating from 1901 to 1912, one of which is signed by R. J. Newberry of London. There is a memorial window from the First World War, dated 1923. On 8 June 1937, organist Doreen Chadwick commenced a series of organ recitals which were broadcast on BBC Radio from the church. At 18 years old, she became the youngest female organist to broadcast straight recitals. Chadwick gave her second recital from the church on 21 May 1938. The church became listed in 2001. It received a £200,000 overhaul in 2005. In 2016, a new lighting and heating system was installed, along with repairs to the spire, using a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Welsh Church Act Fund and CADW. The church is heavily involved with the local community, with a food bank, a debt advice centre and a café operating there. The church hosted the BBC television programme Songs of Praise on 15 October 2017. Location The church is sited prominently on a hill surrounded by its own graveyard, on the corner of Gelliwastad Road and Upper Church Street. St Catherine's has long been a focal point in the town. In 2005, there was a dispute between the church and the local authority over the erection of a new office building and a 326 space car park beside the church, which was built as part of a regeneration scheme. Some local people felt that the new building would spoil the view from the south, which the church has long dominated. The new office block and car park were completed in 2008. References
Church of St Illtyd, Mamhilad

The Church of St Illtyd, Mamhilad, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a parish church with its origins in the 11th century. Renovations took place in the 19th century and again in 1999–2000. It is a Grade II* listed building and an active parish church. History The church dates from the medieval period but the building fabric cannot be dated with certainty. Mention of the church is made in a record of 1100. The existing features are late medieval, or of the restoration undertaken by John Prichard and John Pollard Seddon in 1864–1865. A further restoration took place in 1999–2000. The church remains an active church in the parish of Mamhilad with Monkswood with Glascoed. Architecture and description The church is built of Old Red Sandstone rubble. The style of the existing fabric is Perpendicular. The church comprises a nave, chancel, two porches and a bellcote. Cadw describes the rood loft as a "great rarity" and the listing record for the church's Grade II* designation notes the "extremely fine and rare rood-loft". Notes References Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.