This was the next church along the road from the one last week and ties up nicely my map of that area, no doubt there will be more to find in the future. When I go back to Wales in a few weeks time I will be heading South to see more churches. I found the history below in Wikipedia
"The Church of Saint Afan has been rebuilt several times. The foot of the church-tower is the only part remaining of earlier construction, the rest being rebuilt in 1886. In the porch on the right-hand wall are several carved stones which date from the 7th to 9th centuries. Inside the church, to the left of the altar, is a single pillar stone incised with a Latin ring cross, dating from the 7th century. To the right is an ancient baptismal font of similar age.
There is a 2,200-year-old yew tree in the churchyard. The churchyard claims Saint Afan's relics and is also the burial place of Thomas Huet, who translated the Book of Revelation into the Welsh language in the 16th century. There is also a double gravestone unique in Britain, the left-hand inscription notes that its occupant was murdered and also bears the name of his murderer: John Price Who Was Murdered On The Darren Hill In This Parish By R Lewis April 21, 1826. Relatives of both murderer and victim still live locally"
The day was threatening rain when I got here and started drizzling when I came back out of the church so you may find some of the shot shave spots on them Above and left the South side of St Afan
Heading around to the East end
The the North side
This view is looking from the South East side of the churchyard which is quite large
The bell tower which I must admit I could not tell you where the older part is. Right a small window with a sundial above and plaque below
It's a commemoration plaque and is dated 1765 so predates the rebuild of 1886 so maybe that part is the original tower
Looking over towards the porch past a few chest tombs
Finally the porch, you might notice my tripod in the entrance as I had finished inside and was taking photos of the churchyard
Here we look up the aisle as the church is single cell though looks quite long
The altar and East Window
Turning around by the altar and looking back through the church to the back
The Altar cross which looks a little wonky
Left the pulpit and right the church organ where you can see the poppy wreaths
The Roll of Honour is on the side of the organ above the poppy wreaths
The nave looking form the pulpit
And some interesting items on the pulpit, the bible is covered in mildew and is quite old
The picture above shows the drawings for a new rectory it's dated 1889
There are quite a few memorials on the walls
This one shows the lady is buried nearby so maybe in the church, it's dated 1783
More of the memorials
This one is to Elizabeth Reliet who died in 1791 age 61
Thomas Huet which is written in Welsh but has the dates of 1561 & 1591 on it
The memorial to Elizabeth and Thomas Joseph
before we go out a photo of the church font
Took this photo of the churchyard as I came through the gate
And one across to the West
A row of Chest Tombs
More of the churchyard showing another chest tomb and fenced vault
Above I think this is a table tomb, there are a couple of small chest tombs beyond that which have collapsed. Left the area there is overgrown but contains a few graves
An headstone and a pile of stone marking another broken tomb
These maybe miss placed headstones here beside the church
Further down the churchyard
Here at the far East end of the churchyard you can see more recent burials
I will leave you with this view of St Afan from the far South East of the churchyard. I was quite an interesting church and one I may return to just to find the graves mentioned in the history at the start
Till next time have a wonderful week
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