mistericeman
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 139
After some epic detective work ...
I first visited this Church some 35 years ago (Me and the old man camped in a field just up the road whilst taking in a few of the slate mines of Blaenau)
The church stuck in my mind as most of the burial plots were marked with a glass dome covering a small bouquet of ceramic flowers ...all sadly gone now as a result of vandalism and decay .
However after some deep consultation with my old man and close examination of OS maps me and the Mrs managed to track down
ST Brothen's church ...somewhat unusual in itself as a none Wesleyan/Calvinist place of worship in an area rich in Chapels rather than Churches ...
Also it hails from a more ancient time than it first appears ...c 13c
A claim to fame of launching a political career of Lloyd George
"
The churchyard contains many old slate gravestones, perhaps the most interesting of which is the grave of Robert Roberts, a poor quarryman. In 1888, a radical young lawyer called David Lloyd George, then only 25, championed the right of the family to bury him next to his daughter in the graveyard. He was a non-conformist, so the case was caught up in the religious intolerance of the age. However, the law fell on the side of the quarryman, despite the local vicar padlocking the gate. An apocryphal version of the story has Lloyd George cutting through the padlocked gates at midnight to allow the grieving family to bury the poor man by candlelight. " [courtesy of T'interweb]
A stunning place of peace Though no longer supported by the local diocese it is looked after by the Society of Friendless churches AND long may their good work continue .
Beautiful peaceful place with a heap of happy memories for myself ...
I first visited this Church some 35 years ago (Me and the old man camped in a field just up the road whilst taking in a few of the slate mines of Blaenau)
The church stuck in my mind as most of the burial plots were marked with a glass dome covering a small bouquet of ceramic flowers ...all sadly gone now as a result of vandalism and decay .
However after some deep consultation with my old man and close examination of OS maps me and the Mrs managed to track down
ST Brothen's church ...somewhat unusual in itself as a none Wesleyan/Calvinist place of worship in an area rich in Chapels rather than Churches ...
Also it hails from a more ancient time than it first appears ...c 13c
A claim to fame of launching a political career of Lloyd George
"
The churchyard contains many old slate gravestones, perhaps the most interesting of which is the grave of Robert Roberts, a poor quarryman. In 1888, a radical young lawyer called David Lloyd George, then only 25, championed the right of the family to bury him next to his daughter in the graveyard. He was a non-conformist, so the case was caught up in the religious intolerance of the age. However, the law fell on the side of the quarryman, despite the local vicar padlocking the gate. An apocryphal version of the story has Lloyd George cutting through the padlocked gates at midnight to allow the grieving family to bury the poor man by candlelight. " [courtesy of T'interweb]
A stunning place of peace Though no longer supported by the local diocese it is looked after by the Society of Friendless churches AND long may their good work continue .
Beautiful peaceful place with a heap of happy memories for myself ...
