Church of All Saints, Kemeys Commander
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox church
| name = All Saints Church
| fullname = Church of All Saints
| image = All Saints Church, Kemeys Commander-geograph.org.uk-3255099 (cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 200 | caption = The entrance and bell gable
| pushpin map = Wales Monmouthshire
| pushpin map alt = | pushpin mapsize = 200
| pushpin label position =
| map caption = Location in Monmouthshire
| location = Kemeys Commander, Monmouthshire
| country = Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|51.7381 | -2.9442 |region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}
| osgraw =
| denomination = Church in Wales
| churchmanship =
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| website = {{website|https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/structure/church/4915/|Official website}}
| former name =
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| founded date = c. 13th century
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| cult = | relics = | events = | past bishop = | people = | status = Parish church
| functional status = Active
| heritage designation = Grade II*
| designated date = 18 November 1980
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| architectural type = Church
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The Church of All Saints, Kemeys Commander, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a parish church with its origins in the 13th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.
History
The hamlets of Kemeys Commander and Kemeys Inferior formed part of the Monmouthshire estates of the Knights Templar.{{NHAW|num=2626|desc=Church of All Saints, Gwehelog Fawr|grade=II*|access-date=19 April 2022}} The Templars administered their holdings through commandery, accounting for the name of the hamlet. A reference to a church on the site dates from the 13th century, but the present building was constructed in the 15th century. The Lordship of Kemeys dates from the Middle Ages and was held by the Kemeys family until the estate was sold in the early 18th century.{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=260}}
The church was restored by Richard Creed in the late 19th century. At the time of the restoration, the vicar was The Rev. Herbert Sheppard M.A., of Clare College, Cambridge.{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~familyalbum/kemyscom.htm |title=Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire, 1901|access-date=31 March 2017}}
Architecture and description
The church is built of local limestone in the Perpendicular style.{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=259}} The entrance is through a timber porch{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=259}} and under a bell gable.{{Coflein|num=307345|desc=All Saints, Kemeys Commander|access-date=19 April 2022}} The building has suffered from subsidence and the bell gable is off-vertical.{{cite web|url=http://www.cofiadurcahcymru.org.uk/arch/query/page.php?prn=GGAT01812g |title=GGAT01812g |publisher=Cofiadurcahcymru.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2017-03-31}}
The church retains its original medieval rood screen and rood beam, one of few churches in southeast Wales that do so.{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=25: "At Kemeys Commander the screen and rood beam remain, and were clearly constructed together with the fabric of the little church"}}{{cite book |last1=Kenyon |first1=John R. |last2=Williams |first2=Diane M. |title=Cardiff: Architecture and Archaeology in the Medieval Diocese of Llandaff |date=2006 |publisher=British Archaeological Association |isbn=978-1-904350-80-4}}
reprinted as {{cite book |last1=Kenyon |first1=John R. |last2=Williams |first2=Diane M. |title=Cardiff : architecture and archaeology in the medieval diocese of Llandaff |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=9781000161076 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWHwDwAAQBAJ&dq=Kemeys+Commander+rood+screen&pg=PT345}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{Cite book
|last=Newman|first=John
|authorlink=John Newman (architectural historian)
|series=The Buildings of Wales
|title=Gwent/Monmouthshire
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&dq=The+Buildings+of+Wales%3A+Gwent%2FMonmouthshire&pg=PA2
|year=2000
|publisher=Penguin
|location=London
|isbn=0-14-071053-1
}}
File:South side of the church, Kemeys Commander, Monmouthshire (geograph 6915126).jpg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemeys Commander, All Saints}}
Category:Grade II* listed churches in Monmouthshire
Category:History of Monmouthshire