Holy Trinity, Taliaris, Carmarthenshire (PRN 17324)

HOLY TRINITY,

TALIARIS,

CARMARTHENSHIRE (DINEFWR)

Dyfed PRN 17324

RB No. 3435

NGR SN 6540 2822

Listed Building No. 15189

Grade II listed (1998): First listed in 1995.

SUMMARY

19th century church; 0% pre-19th century core fabric.

A multicell church (chapel), medium sized. Consists of chancel, 1 bay; nave, 3 bays; north transept, 1 bay; south transept, 1 bay; west porch; all earlier 19th century. Vestry (north), 1893. Heating chamber (south of chancel), rebuilt 20th century?. Construction is in local rubble, plastered within. Red-tile gable roofs; heating chamber with red-tile lean-to roof. Openings mainly from 1893, neo-Perpendicular, with ORS dressings. Western single bellcote, 1893.

Roofs, floors and finishes: 1893.

Condition – good.

Archaeological potential – good. Slight earthwork platform beneath 25% of church, natural?; deep, external concrete drain around 50% of church; shallow concrete drain around 20% of church; suspended floors above heating ducts in 50% of church; one memorial significantly close to church.

Structural value (pre 19th century) – poor. 0% pre-19th century core fabric.

Group value – low-medium. Early 19th century chapel in landmark rural upland location; large churchyard.

Phasing:

Phase 1 – Chancel, nave, transepts, west porch (and heating chamber?), early C19.

Phase 2 – Restored 1893, high impact; vestry built.

(Phase 3 – Heating chamber rebuilt C20?).

DESCRIPTION

Holy Trinity, Taliaris, is a multicelled church (properly chapel), of medium size. It was entirely rebuilt in the early 19th century on the same site, and probably in the same location as the earlier, 17th century church, and nothing was retained from the earlier fabric.

The present chapel consists of a single-bayed chancel, a 3-bayed nave, single-bayed north and south transepts, a west porch, a single-bayed vestry north of the chancel, and a single-bayed heating chamber south of the chancel. Construction is in local rubble, with pointing from 1893; plastered within. Openings are neo-Perpendicular with Old Red Sandstone dressings, mainly from 1893. A simple, single bellcote lies at the west end. The roofs are red-tiled gables; the heating chamber has a red-tiled lean-to roof.

The form of the original 17th century chapel is not known, but the building was described as ‘small, neat’ and in a ‘sequestered situation’ in 1809 (Anon., 1933, 10). The chapel was rebuilt, before 1833, by Lord Robert Seymour (Lewis, 1833) and the tithe map of 1837 shows it as a simple rectangular building occupying its present location (NLW, Llandeilo Fawr, 1837). However, the map depiction may be conventionalised; it was a cruciform building by 1892, at least (NLW, SD/F/644), with a west porch, a coalshed south of the chancel, and windows that were largely timber-framed but the east window had 4 lights with simple tracery and the nave north window was 2-light and neo-Perpendicular.

The chapel was restored in 1893, to the designs of the architect David Jenkins of Llandeilo (ibid.) during which it was visited by the Cambrian Archaeological Association who described it as ‘unroofed, and whatever traces of old work may have previously existed were being entirely obliterated’ (Anon., 1893, 87). The vestry was added, and the coalshed was converted into a heating chamber. The chapel was refenestrated and the bellcote was added; however the west porch and door were retained unchanged. It was reroofed, refloored, reseated and replastered.

The heating chamber may have been largely rebuilt during the 20th century.

The church stands on a slight earthwork platform but this appears to represent a natural terrace with an escarpment to the south-east. A deep, external concrete drain runs along the north and east walls and a shallow concrete drain runs along the west half of the south wall. Floors are suspended above heating ducts. Just one memorial lies significantly close to the nave south wall.

The chapel Listed Grade II. First Listed in 1995.

SITE HISTORY

There is no evidence for the pre-conquest religious use of the site.

Holy Trinity, Taliaris, is shown as a possible 14th century chapel site by Rees, 1932. However, it appears that the chapel was a rather later foundation, said to have been consecrated by Bishop Jeremy Taylor during the reign of Charles II (Anon., 1893, 87) after he had found refuge at the nearby Golden Grove estate (Anon., 1933, 10); the pulpit from Taylor’s incumbency was said to have been destroyed in the 1850s (ibid.). The living was in the patronage of the Taliaris estate.

In 1786 the living of ‘Holy Trinity or Taliaris Chapel’ had a certified value of £10 (ibid.) and was endowed with a house and 10 acres of land in the early 19th century (ibid.). In 1833 Taliaris was a chapelry of Llandeilo Fawr parish, but was previously annexed to Talley (Carms. R. O., CPR/8). The living was a perpetual curacy endowed with £200 private benefaction and £600 royal bounty, in the patronage of the proprietor of the Taliaris estate (Lewis, 1833).

In 1998 the living was a vicarage in the parish of Llandeilo Fawr (Benefice no. 675) in the Archdeaconry of Carmarthen, Rural Deanery of Llangadog and Llandeilo (St Davids, 1997-8).

SOURCES CONSULTED

Map Evidence

NLW, Parish of Llandeilo Fawr, Tithe Map, 1837.

Rees, W., 1933, South Wales and the Border in the XIVth century.

Church in Wales Records

St Davids, 1997-8, Diocesan Year Book.

NLW, SD/F/644, Faculty – Restoration of church, 1892.

NLW, SD/F/645, Faculty – Memorial tablet, 1923.

Parish Records, Carmarthenshire Record Office, Carmarthen

(CPR/8 – Talley)

(CPR/28 – Manordeilo)

Unpublished Accounts

Sambrook, R. P., and Page, N. A., 1995 (i), The Historic Settlements of Dinefwr (Unpublished client report; copy held with Dyfed SMR).

Sambrook, R. P., and Page, N. A., 1995 (ii), The Historic Settlements of Dinefwr: Gazetteer (Unpublished client report; copy held with Dyfed SMR).

Printed Accounts

Anon., 1893, ‘Llandeilo-Fawr Meeting’, Archaeol. Cambrensis, Vol. IX, Fifth Series.

Anon., 1933, ‘Field Day’, Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society Vol. 24.

Lewis, S., 1833, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales.

RCAHM, 1917, Inventory: Carmarthenshire.

Updated: August 2021 – PKR

Heneb - The Trust for Welsh Archaeology