:St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bleddfa
{{Short description|Church in Powys, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox church | name = St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bleddfa| fullname =
| image = St. Mary Magdalene, Bleddfa - geograph.org.uk - 6156700.jpg | imagesize = | imagealt = | caption =
| pushpin map = Wales Powys| pushpin map alt = | pushpin mapsize = 180 | map caption = Location in Powys
| location = Bleddfa, Powys | country = Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|52.3078|-3.1652|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}} | osgraw = SO 206 683
| denomination = Church in Wales | churchmanship = | membership = | attendance = | website = | former name =
| bull date = | founded date = | founder = | dedication = Saint Mary Magdalene | dedicated date = | consecrated date =
| parish = East Radnor Ministry Area | deanery = Greater Brecon | archdeaconry = Brecon | diocese = Swansea and Brecon
| people = Reverend R D Storer (priest) | status = active | functional status =
| heritage designation = Grade I| designated date = 24 October 1951 | architect = | architectural type = Church | style =
| groundbreaking = 13th century | completed date = | construction cost = | closed date = | demolished date =
| capacity = | length = | width = | width nave = | height = | diameter = | other dimensions = | floor count = | floor area =
| materials =
}}
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,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bleddfa.org/church-of-st-mary-magdalene|title=Church of St Mary Magdalene|publisher=Bleddfa Community website|access-date=5 September 2024}} but there is neither documentary or built evidence to support the claim.{{cite web|url=https://heritage.churchinwales.org.uk/church-heritage-record-st-mary-magdalene-bleddfa-5903#Home|title=Church Heritage Record 5903: St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bleddfa|publisher=Church in Wales|access-date=5 September 2024}} Cadw dates the present church to the early 13th century.{{Cadw|num=9122|desc=Church of St. Mary Magdalene|grade=I|access-date=5 September 2024}} Masonry foundations exist to show that the church once had a tower,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-mary-magdalene-bleddfa|title=Bleddfa St Mary Magdalene|publisher=National Churches Trust|website=www.nationalchurchestrust.org|access-date=5 September 2024}} by tradition this was destroyed by Owain Glyndŵr in his rebellion in 1402.{{sfn|Scourfield|Haslam|2013|pp=293-294}} 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.{{efn|Scourfield and Haslam suggest that the church closed in 1973 and passed into the care of the Bleddfa Trust in 1977.{{sfn|Scourfield|Haslam|2013|pp=293-294}} The Bleddfa Community website suggests it remains an active place of worship and the Church in Wales records the church as active.{{cite web|url=https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/structure/church/5903/|title=Church of St Mary Magdalene, Bleddfa|publisher=Church in Wales|access-date=5 September 2024}}}}
Architecture and description
St Mary's consists of a nave, chancel, the ruins of a western tower, south porch and a bellcote.{{cite web|url=https://cpat.org.uk/Archive/churches/radnor/16716.htm|title=Radnorshire Churches Survey: Church of St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bleddfa|publisher=Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust|access-date=5 September 2024}} 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.{{sfn|Scourfield|Haslam|2013|pp=293-294}}
St Mary Magdalene's is as a Grade I listed building. The former vicarage is listed at Grade II.{{Cadw|num=26025|desc=Bleddfa Old Rectory|grade=II|access-date=5 September 2024}}
Gallery
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Bleddfa - geograph.org.uk - 6156644.jpg|Church in its setting
St Mary Magdalene's Church in Bleddfa - Eglwys y Santes Fair Fadlen ym Mleddfa - geograph.org.uk - 5449050.jpg|Interior
Bleddfa church (1294312).jpg|Church interior prior to the restoration by George Pace
Notes
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References
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Sources
- {{Cite book
| last1 = Scourfield|first1 = Robert
| last2 = Haslam|first2 = Richard
| series=The Buildings of Wales
| title=Powys: Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire
| url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/863678002
| year=2013
| location = New Haven, US and London
| publisher=Yale University Press
| isbn=978-0-300-18508-9
}}
External links
{{Commons category|St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bleddfa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleddfa, St Mary Magdalene's}}