Church of St Hilary - Bell Tower - Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
N 51° 26.981 W 003° 25.034
30U E 471006 N 5699915
The Parish Church of St Hilary has a Bell Tower housing in its belfry a ring of six bells, the oldest dates from 1742. The church dominates the center of the village of St Hilary, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMK4Q0
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/12/2014
Views: 1
The Church of St Hilary has some remaining features from the 12th Century, including a Norman arch. The main body of the Church, said to be 14th Century. The bell tower dates from the 16th Century.
"St. Hilary Church is in the village of St. Hilary, 1½ miles Southeast of Cowbridge. This tower contains a ring of six, consisting of Rudhall bells dating from 1742, which were recast into a ring of five by Taylors of Loughborough in 1906. As a community project to mark the beginning of the third Christian Millennium, Taylors added a treble, which was dedicated by the Archbishop of Wales on March 20, 1999." Text Source: (
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"The church has C12 origins and is dedicated to Saint Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers, who lived
in the C4. No other church in Britain is named after him. Mainly decorated and
perpendicular in style the medieval church comprises: nave, chancel, South aisle,
embattled West tower with diagonal buttresses and two-light, square-headed bell-chamber
openings. Other features include a Norman font of C13 origin and C14 effigies of the
Basset family. In 1862 Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the church. The pulpit, lectern,
altar rails and pews are all contemporary with Scott’s restoration. The chancel has a fine
C19 carved alabaster altarpiece, depicting the Last Supper and the stained glass in the
East window is by Clayton and Bell." Text Source: (
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"The now mostly 14th century, red-tiled church is a substantial structure in the later English style, consisting of a nave, south aisle, and chancel, with a 16th-century embattled tower at the west end. The nave is 45 feet (14 m) long and 33 feet (10 m) broad including the aisle. The chancel 22 feet (6.7 m) long and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and the arch dates further back to the twelfth century, evidently from the earlier building which was situated on the site. The eastern window of the south aisle is elegantly design, and that of the chancel is ornamented with stained glass, representing the arms of the Traherne family. The Bassett Family Tomb Enclosure is listed as a Grade II building in its own right. In the chancel is a recumbent figure, in armour, with a Latin inscription, to the memory of Thomas Bassett of Old Beau Pre, who died in 1423. In the south aisle, there is a tablet to the memory of the late Mrs. Traherne, who died in 1796, and to that of her sister, Anna Maria Edmondes." Text Source: (
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