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St Michael and All Angels' Church, Kerry

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NPRN146164
Map ReferenceSO19SW
Grid ReferenceSO1471790101
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPowys
Old CountyMontgomeryshire
CommunityKerry
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodMedieval
Description

St Michael's is a double-naved structure which includes a large tower to the west of the church. The arcade survives from the original Norman church, which was dates from 1176. The chancel arcade and the tower are fourteenth century, The buttressed tower is of typical Montgomeryshire style and includes a timber framed belfry. Also in place are the fourteenth century roofs, a bell of 1410, and a chest and a small number of monuments from the eighteenth century. Outside the main building the churchyard is described as a polygonal enclosure and overlooks the valley of the River Mule. there is a sundial in the church yard.

Major rebuilding took place in 1882-83, and large restoration work was undertaken on the tower in 1924. The latter work included repair of the stair turret, re-pointing and repair of the wall, and remedial work on the oak timber framing. The roof was also re-slated and louvers were inserted in the windows.

More recent work included the 1960 removal of a coke-fired boiler and the installation of an electric heating system. Further restoration work in 1993-94 was necessitated by storm damage when some of the oak timbers were replaced by steel girders and the slate roof was repaired.

Tree-ring dating of the bell chamber wall frame established that the two-tier timber-framed bell-stage was built in Winter 1525-6, and that the bell-chamber floor was renewed in 1567-8 with very large and closely set beams, presumably to support the weight of a heavy bell-frame (Vernacular Architecture 42 (2011)).

The church was ‘beautified’ around 1714, and paintings in the church recorded in a 1765 inventory, but which are now lost, are reported to have included one of Moses and Aaron of 1745, and a King’s Arms and ‘tables’ from 1765 inventory.

Sources include:
Vernacular Architecture (2011), pp. 42.
The Buildings of Wales: Powys (1979), pp.112-14.
Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 16.

RCAHMW 2021