St Bridget’s Church, Skenfrith

Medieval in origin, St Bridget’s is a small ancient church, consecrated in 1207, making it one of the oldest churches in continuous use in Monmouthshire. St Bridget’s was built in several phases, with the earliest phase dating from the reign of King John, then extended in the 14th and 17th centuries, and finally it was sympathetically restored in the Victorian period and again in the early 1900s.

The church is constructed of Old Red Sandstone, and comprises a two-aisled nave, chancel and a squat tower with a huge buttress. The tower is topped by a low 2-stage timber-framed dovecote belfry with a pyramidal roof.

The interior contains many treasures; an original stone altar, 15th-century embroidery, part of a medieval chancel screen, sections of medieval wall paintings, decorative Jacobean pews and early benches, and the tomb of the last Governor of the Three Castles, of Skenfrith, Grosmont and White Castle.

The large stone altar is original. It was hidden under the church floor to save it from destruction during the Protestant Reformation.

St Bridget’s greatest treasure is The Skenfrith Cope – a 15th-century cope, which was found being used as an altar cloth in the 19th century, now mounted behind protective glass in a special display case.

The Skenfrith Cope

The Skenfrith Cope is a pre-Reformation Catholic red velvet vestment (cloak/robe) which would have been worn over the shoulders of the clergy during services. After the Reformation so many of these embroidered vestments were destroyed and those that survived were either taken over to the Continent or they were hidden by Catholic families and clergy in England. The Skenfrith Cope was lost for 300 years until it was rediscovered in the 19th century. It is one of three known to exist in the world. Unfortunately the cope wasn’t on display in the church when I visited so I have no photos of it.