The Church of St. Tysilio and St. Mary, Meifod, stands on a site that was once the centre of early Welsh Christianity. The church has been rebuilt and modified throughout the centuries, and there are examples of work surviving from every architectural period from the Normans to the present day.

The site is believed to have become a Christian foundation c.550, dedicated first to St. Gwyddfarch, and later to St. Tysilio. The remains of this early church were still visible in the eighteenth century, but little trace remains today. A second church was built in the twelfth century by Madoc Mareddud, whose remains are believed to be buried within the grounds; much of the fabric of this building remains today. Since the first foundation of the church it been extended and renovated on a number of occasions, and has an eclectic range of styles; a wide Romanesque nave, fourteenth century moulded entrance, fifteenth century tower and south window, seventeenth century octagonal font, and predominantly nineteenth century fenestration and fixtures, such as the oak pulpit. The pews were made in the nineteenth century but incorporate seventeenth century panel screens.

Built from predominantly local rubble stonework with a slate roof and dressings that include stone gargoyles, this church is a display of Welsh Christianity through the centuries.

Painted features include depictions of 'saints' reported during the 1871 restoration, which have now been destroyed. Colour traces on the arcade and scrollwork in the window reveals were also noted.

Sources include:
Cadw Listed Building Record
RCAHMW Inventory Documents

Source: Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 23.

RCAHMW 2022

Site Record