St Cedol

The only church in Wales dedicated to St Cedol, who was possibly an early Celtic Christian leader. The remains of the original church, which was damaged during the Edward I wars of 1282-83, are denoted by a low wall within the graveyard. This area has the graves of those interred within the old church, with the currently identifiable oldest gravestone being 1642.

The current church building was built in 1848 following an appeal for funds driven by the squire of Pentir and designed by the ubiquitous diocesan architect Henry Kennedy. Built of roughly squared igneous stones with gritstone which were largely reused from the nearby Plas mansion. It is a modest ecclesiastical building of divided nave and chancel, with attached vestry and porch. The interior has fourteen attractive timber trusses with curved struts ascending to the apex. The vestry has an unusual direct access to the pulpit through the wall. The two bells date from wither the 17th or 18th century.

Internally a number of memorials were moved from the old church to the new, namely to members of the Williams family of Plas Pentir. A unique war memorial is also in situ made by local craftsmen and is a relief carved slate tablet. The stained glass east window is in memory of the Nantporth family who were patrons after the demise of the Plas Pentir family. The pew ends bear a representation of the fleur-de-lys, which is also seen on the Plas Pentir family crest.

The cemetery contains at least 795 graves spanning the centuries, having inscriptions that reflect the lives, tragedies, successes and attitudes of those eras. Of note are the many graves of young children, with one family grave containing five very young children, possibly caused by the cholera epidemic of the time, and their mother. Equally remarkable is the very great age achieved by some residents. Most of the inscriptions are in Welsh, but many in English, with some of the older in Latin.