History in the making

A Friends group’s work to preserve and celebrate the heritage of St Tetti’s Church has been described as a “best practice example of how these special places can continue to inspire generations to come”.

The initiative began when priest-in-charge Rev’d Kelvin Richards called a public meeting in June 2022 to discuss the potential closure of St Tetti’s, the unique Grade II* Listed church that has stood at the heart of Llandetty for centuries.

Neil Startin, an architect who lives in Llandetty, heard about the meeting and was keen to get involved with the church in a non-worshipping capacity.

“As an architect and neighbour to the church, I was keen to put my name forward as someone who could help with maintenance and refurbishment, using my experience with working on historic buildings,” he said. “When I got involved, it soon became clear that there was potential for a Friends Group, so we decided, along with our neighbours, that we would like to be part of that, and it grew from there.”

One of the Friends Group’s earliest projects involved the clearance of the churchyard which had become noticeably overgrown.

“The churchyard hadn’t been fully maintained for a number of years. There were a couple of areas which are regularly maintained and didn’t require much work, but around 70% of the churchyard had five to 10 years of undergrowth, making those areas impenetrable. With the Church Committee’s long-term goal to broaden the use of the church, the Friends Group thought we’d need to start clearing the area and making the whole place more accessible as the first part of our journey.”

Neil said the project has been supported through several grants, and that the Friends Group has worked hard to identify potential funders with local links. “The National Park has been our largest grant funder so far using a couple of funding streams from them. The other funders we have been successful with have all been local – the Gibbs Trust, and the Green Man Trust.”

The Friends Group has also received donations from private individuals with links to Llandetty, including £6,000 from a former resident of the village who now lives in the United States, but is keen to ensure that the church and churchyard are maintained.

The project was carried out in line with Church in Wales guidance on the management of churchyards, as well as with the input of an ecologist. “We had an ecologist who spent a day a month there for six months or so before we touched anything. From those surveys he divided the churchyard into 10–15 different zones based on the ecology that he saw over the year. From that, we developed ideas of how we would treat those various areas and what work was required in them to improve the biodiversity, make them more accessible, open up some of the long views and create wildlife corridors and links to neighbouring ecology.”

The church is also uniquely situated next to the River Usk and Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, and the Friends Group was very keen to highlight its proximity to these features. “The church is located at the top of the riverbank, but most people had no idea how close it was and what great views there could be from the churchyard. Now we have stunning views from most parts of the churchyard down to the river and we’ve linked the two back together again. We’ve supplemented that with a couple of picnic benches and quite a bit of social media to encourage people in the local villages to see this as a space that they can come and enjoy the natural and historical environments and get close to the river – there aren’t many places around here that you can access the river as a lot of it is privately owned.”

A new sign from the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal towpath has also been helpful in directing people towards the church. “The sign was our very first project so we could signpost people to the fact that the church is only a few hundred metres from the towpath. Most passersby had no idea. Our churchwarden put a chalkboard in the porch so passersby could write down the flora and fauna that they observed while visiting, which proved really popular – every time we went there, there were additions of various birds and butterflies that people had noticed.”

In planning the churchyard and projects, the Church Committee and Friends Group has also been sensitive to the needs of people visiting graves. “The zones are key really. For example, the picnic benches aren’t located in burial areas. These are located along the riverbank which was completely overgrown and wasn’t accessible at all. We’ve just claimed back some of the area, where you can spend time without disturbing visitors who are there to tend the graves.”

The success of this initiative has encouraged the Church Committee and Friends Group to look to the future and think about other projects, including the refurbishment of the old lychgate and the resurfacing of a parking area next to the southeast entrance. “Our long-term goal is to think of alternative, complementary, appropriate and sustainable uses for the building and churchyard.”

In commenting on the project, Martin Buckle, who chairs the Brecon Beacons Park Society and is a member of the Beacons Historic Environment Partnership Core Group, said: “Many people’s perceptions of the Brecon Beacons will be of stunning mountain landscapes, and of spectacular views across wide open countryside. However, it’s often the discovery of special, hidden away jewels in the landscape that make visits to the area particularly memorable. Our heritage of historic buildings and places is such an important component of this National Park’s distinctiveness.

“The work of the church community, the committee and the friends group is a best practice example of how these special places can continue to inspire generations to come. We look forward to seeing this project galvanising others to safeguard those special places and features which are so important to us all.

“The new Historic Environment Action Plan should provide mechanisms for ensuring that support can be found to enable similar initiatives to gather momentum throughout the area. The National Park Authority is to be commended for recognising the value of this project, and stepping forward and helping to make a difference when it mattered. With all organisations under intense pressures in managing budgets, this kind of collaboration will be crucial to sustaining our heritage for the long term.”

Friends of Llandetty Church is welcoming new members. Enquiries can be sent to membership secretary Neil Startin at llandettyhallfarm@outlook.com, or search ‘Friends of Llandetty’ on Facebook.