Editing Trellech (section)

===Church of St Nicholas===
{{main|Church of St Nicholas, Trellech}}
[[File:Trellech church - geograph.org.uk - 261726.jpg|thumb|right|St Nicholas' Church]]

The [[Anglican]] [[parish church]] has been designated a [[Grade I listed building]] since 19 November 1953,<ref>{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=2106|desc=Church of St Nicholas, Trellech|grade=I|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> and is described by [[Joseph Bradney]] as "one of the largest and most handsome of the country churches in the county" of Monmouthshire.<ref name="bradney">{{cite book|last=Bradney|first=Sir Joseph|title=A History of Monmouthshire: The Hundred of Trelech|publisher=Mitchell Hughes and Clarke|year=1933|pages=129–154|isbn=1-873361-16-5}}</ref>  With an elegant pointed and prominent [[steeple]], a [[baptismal font|font]] and 17th-century [[sundial]], it is a focal point of the village.  The main part of the church building is of local [[Old Red Sandstone]], with a three-stage tower.  The spire can be seen for several miles around and is described by architectural writer John Newman as "the town's pride and joy".<ref>{{cite book|last=Newman|first=John|title=The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire|pages=566–9, 574–5, 576–579 }}</ref>

A church on this site, probably a wooden structure, was endowed by Ffernfael ap Ithel and [[Meurig ap Tewdrig]] who were rulers of [[Kingdom of Gwent|Gwent]] in the 7th and 8th centuries.  The Preaching Cross in the churchyard is early Medieval in date, as is the font.<ref>{{Coflein|num=220997|desc=St Nicholas’ Church, Trellech|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> The present building dates from the 13th or early 14th century. The early English [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] stonework has been dated to between 1225 and 1272, and that of the [[Decorated Gothic]] up to 1350.  The church has a large [[clerestory|clerestoried]] [[nave]], with a much smaller [[chancel]].  The "impressive" interior has a "spendidly high" tower arch, and the five-bay nave has arcades on octagonal piers.<ref name="newman"/>  The [[altar rails]] and [[pulpit]], dated 1640, are survivals of 17th century church interior design.  At the west end of the church, directly below the window, is a [[Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom|Royal Coat of Arms]] for [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] dated 1683.<ref name="newman"/>  Records are held by the church dating from 1692.  Complete lists of vicars, from 1359, and [[churchwarden]]s, from 1763, can be found in the entrance to the south aisle.  The rear of the main church door is inscribed "IHS 1595".

When the [[weathercock]] was removed from the spire in 1972 it was found to have been made in [[Ross-on-Wye]] in 1792. The original [[spire]] fell, damaging the roof of the nave, and a contemporary reference attributes this to "lightning and storms".  In the [[Bell tower|belfry]] the cage housing the three bells is of a type similar to that found in others constructed about the year 1700.  At the end of the last century the church was in a neglected state and was extensively renovated and re-roofed.  The Belgian slates then in place were replaced with [[Slate industry in Wales|Welsh slates]] in 1961.  The chancel was replastered in 1972 and painted white.  During 1974 considerable repairs were undertaken to the north and south aisles, and in 2001 the majority of the churchyard [[dry-stone wall]] was removed and rebuilt.

====Sundial====
The church contains a stone sundial, dated 1689, which was originally set up by Lady Probert of [[the Argoed, Penallt]]. Three of the four faces of the sundial show the village's historic features: Tump Terret, with the inscriptions MAGNA MOLE ("Great in its Mound") and O QUOT HIC SEPULTI ("Oh! How many are buried here"); Harold's Stones with the inscriptions MAIOR SAXIS ("Greater in its Stones") and HIC FUIT VICTOR HARALDUS ("Here Harold was victorious"); and the Virtuous Well, with the inscriptions MAXIMA FONTE ("Greatest in its Well") and DOM. MAGD. PROBERT OSTENDIT ("Lady Magdalen Probert gives proof of it").  The sundial stood in a garden, on top of the inverted ancient font, until both were moved inside the church in the early 20th century.<ref name="bradney"/> A carved wooden replica of the sundial was placed in a field south of the village in recent years.<ref name="newman"/>