Welsh Journals

Female effigy The female effigy, dated by Gresham to the late 14th century and traditionally thought to represent St Melangell, is now placed against the south wall of the chancel. The accompanying illustration and the following description are taken from Gresham's Medieval Stone Carving in North Wales. II At several points down the dexter side of the monument, on the head-dress, arm, and skirt, the stone has been worn away smoothly by the sharpening of knives. The effigy is broken in two parts, but is otherwise entire. It measures 6 ft. 2 in. in length, and tapers from 1 ft. 9 in. to 1 ft. 7 in. in width. The figure (5 ft. 9 in. in length) lies with the head resting on two cushions, the upper one set diagonally; her feet are supported by a lion, its head to the sinister side. She wears the heavy square head-dress of the late 14th century, which now lacks all detail. The upper part of the dress and the sleeves are tight-fitting, and now quite plain; the skirt flows down more fully in a series of heavy folds to the feet. On each side of the waist are carved two curious faces of animals with round mouths and long ears, of uncouth workmanship. It has been pointed out that these may be intended to represent hares; and if this is so the monument must be considered as a cult figure of the patron saint of the church, Melangell, who by tradition guarded a hare under the folds of her garment, when it was being hunted by the hounds of Brochwel, prince ofPowys. The craftsmanship of this carving is very poor compared with that being produced at the same time in Flintshire. The earliest reference to the effigy as the image of Melangell is by Pennant in his tour of 1773.12 It is possible, but by no means certain, that it was a cult effigy, similar to the surviving late 14th-century effigies of St Pabo at Llanbabo and St Iestyn at Llaniestyn, both in Anglesey. n It is interesting to note that early 14th-century sepulchral slabs at Llanyblodwel, Valle Crucis, St Asaph and Yspyty Ifan show scenes of a hare being chased by a hound.14 In the case of the slab from Valle Crucis this is accompanied by the head of a huntsman blowing a horn. ROOD SCREEN15 Until the recent restoration (see fig. 5.5) little change had been made to the surviving elements of the late 15th-century screen since they were sketched by the Reverend John Parker of Llanmerewig in 1837.16 The parapet of the loft had been moved from its original position above the screen, possibly during the early 18th century, to form a false gallery above a boarded partition screening off the west end of the nave. Many of the original enrichments have now 1 lIbid.. no. 220, 244 and fig. 97. 12Pennant noted 'butherreliques, as well as her image. have been long since removed: but I think the last is still to be seen in the churchyard": see J. Rees (ed.). Tours in Wales by Thomas Pennant Esq. vol. 3. (Caernarfon, 1883). 163-5. 13Gresham 1968 op. cit. (note 7), 230-35. 14Ibid., nos 46, 124, 140, 141. 15See also descriptions in F.H. Crossley & M.H. Ridgway, Screens, lofts and stalls situated in Wales and Monmouthshire. Part Five, Archaeologia Cambrensis 99 (1946-7), 218-20, and D.R. Thomas, Montgomeryshire screens and rood lofts. Montgomeryshire Collections 32 (1902), which quotes Parker and repeats Parker's description in Archaeologia Cambrensis 3 (1848). ^Reproduced in Crossley & Ridgway 1946-7 op. cit. (note 5), figs opposite pp. 2 1 8 and 219. A less accurate engraving from Parker's sketches by H. Shaw appears in Archaeologia Cambrensis 3 (1848), fig. opposite p. 225 13251, also reproduced in Archaeologia Cambrensis 1 (1894), 141, and in Hancock 1879 op. cit. (note 3). fig. opposite p. 64. The earliest illustration of the carving of Melangell is John Ingleby's watercolour sketch of 1795 in the National Library of Wales, but this is much less as accurate than Parker's drawing of 1837.