Abergavenny Priory Church of St Mary is a quiet place of repose adjacent to a busy market town.
In layout the church is cruciform in layout and impressively large with a chancel and nave 172 feet (52 m) in length. The central tower has ten bells. The church is mainly in the Decorated and Perpendicular Period architectural styles and had Victorian period refurbishment in the 19th century, erasing most of the original Norman architecture . The baptismal font is Norman, rediscovered in the churchyard in the 19th century; having been removed in the 17th century by local Baptist minister, John Abbot, because he did not believe in infant baptism. The oaken choir stalls with carved misericords and carved lattice work backs, are 15th-century. They bear the name of the prior at that time Wynchestre and his own stall remains, slightly raised and surmounted by a mitre. There is a significant collection of effigies, are in wood, alabaster and marble ranging in date from the 13th to the 17th century. One effigy is that of John de Hastings, Lord of Abergavenny (died 1324) and shows him as a young knight, wearing a long surcoat over a hauberk and a hood of fine chainmail. In the Lewis or Jospeh chapel are two female effigies - one holding a heart in her palm, signifying a possible heart burial, dating from the 13th century and is believed to be Eva de Braose and (unusually for a female effigy) bears a shield bearing the Cantilupe arms. Next to her a second female 14th century effigy and has a light chain around her waist which documented as having once been attached to a small squirrel forming part of the effigy but since defaced, perhaps during the Commonwealth or Protectorate period (1649–1660). The Herbert Chapel contains recumbent monuments and effigies, in both alabaster and marble, associated with the ap Thomas and Herbert families. Within the chapel are also monumental brasses dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. In 2018 the chapel was dedicated to St Benedict whose rule the Priory monks followed.
Size: 4912px × 5946px
Location: Abergavenny, Monmouthsire, Wales
Photo credit: © Philip Chapman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: alabaster, baptismal, bells, cantiloupe, carved, chancel, choir, church, cruciform, decorated, effigies, effigy, font, latticework, marble, mary, misericords, monastic, monatery, nave, norman, oak, peaceful, perpendicular, priory, refurbished, repose, st, stalls
