Church of Saints Peter and Cynidr, Glasbury

Church of Saints Peter and Cynidr, Glasbury

St Cynidr is said to have founded a cell in the 5th or 6th century near where the River Llynfi flows into the River Wye. A church was eventually built in the locality. Its tithe income went to St Peter’s Abbey in Gloucester. After the dissolution of monasteries in the 16th century, Glasbury’s church was overseen by the Bishop of Gloucester.

The church stood on the river floodplain and was vulnerable to flood damage. A replacement church was opened on the current church site in 1665. That building was replaced in the 1830s by the church which still stands. The site is too elevated to be affected by river floods but is too narrow for the church to be aligned on the usual east-west axis.

The 1830s church was designed by London-based architect Lewis Vulliamy and subsequently enlarged and renovated, notably in the 1880s and 1910. The church font dates from 1635. The building has many stained glass windows, including one (in the south wall) by Sir Ninian Comper, designer of the Welsh National War Memorial in Cardiff.

The church’s bell frame were restored at the end of the 20th century. The tower’s external stonework underwent repairs in 2015.

Although Glasbury is a small community, the church lost three of its bell ringers in 1918 as a result of the First World War. William Jones, a Private in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, was killed in France, aged 18, in June 1918. William James, who was a railwayman before joining the Royal Engineers, was 28 when he died on 24 November – less than a fortnight after the war ended and 14 months after his wedding.

Austin Hamer, of the South Wales Borderers, was emaciated when he died of pneumonia on 4 December, aged 19. He was taken prisoner of war in April 1918. Click here for our page in his memory.

Local people who died in the First and Second World Wars are commemorated on memorials inside the church. Click here for details of the individuals.

With thanks to Barbara Lloyd, of Glasbury Historical Society, and the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers

Postcode: HR3 5NU    View Location Map