Medieval Font - Church of St Mary - Begelly, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
N 51° 43.976 W 004° 43.600
30U E 380763 N 5732745
The Church of St Mary is of medieval origin. Only the tower, the walls of the body of the church, font, & a few stone artefacts survive from the ancient church building. Located in the small village of Begelly, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMT9VH
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/20/2016
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This ancient Norman church dates from The 13th Century. St Mary's Church, Begelly, is a Church of Wales denomination in the Dioceses of St Davids, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
The medieval font stands in the usual place near the door. A plain square baptismal font, apparently of local stone. There are no carvings, except a few scratched letters, & a what appears to be a repair to the top edge. The square top stands on a circular pillar/plinth on an undersized square base. The ancient font is thought to date from the 13th-15th Century.
From the Church Website:
"The 13th Century church is one of Pembrokeshire’s hidden gems, yet with Pembrokeshire's tallest church tower – it’s not that well hidden!
The church is a Grade 2 listed building and is a focal point of the community greeting hundreds of thousands of tourists
at the gateway to Pembrokeshire every year.
St Mary's Church was originally dedicated to St Bugail, which in Welsh means "Shepherd" and
this may have been the origin of the name.
The crenelated tower provides a striking landmark and at 71 feet high, with 3 storeys, houses a bell made in 1760 by Bayley in Bridgewater and is the tallest tower in the county.
The bell bears the inscription "My sound is good, my shape is neat. 'Twas Bayley made me so complete" 1760.
Amongst the features of the church are the medieval font, a holy water stoup and the chancel arch “apparently Norman – built of local stone”." Information Source: (
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From the British Listed Buildings Website:
"An extensive restoration was carried out in 1886 under the Rev. Frederick Ball. The architect was E M Bruce Vaughan of Cardiff. The church was said to be in very bad repair. Services were held in the Rectory barn during the work. The roofs were rebuilt throughout. The nave roof was restored to the level of an earlier roof indicated by marks on the tower. The doors and windows were entirely reconstructed. The old S porch was already in use as a vestry, and its outer archway blocked. It was a request of the Bishop that the original stones of the archway jambs should be retained and a small window placed in the blocking of the opening. Corbels indicating the positions of former roof trusses were preserved and also the corbels and stairs of the rood.
Several perhaps C15 stray carved stones of the mediaeval church survived and are now displayed on the shelves of the windows. One is a mullion fragment, others carry six-petal flower motifs." Text Source: (
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