Clodock - Church of St Clydawg

Built on the site of the burial of a murdered Celtic prince, to whom it is dedicated. The river Monnow runs by the wall of the churchyard, which is crowded with an extraordinary collection of carved grave stones dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Church of St Clydawg (Historic Churches Trust) is not specially distinguished architecturally, but it contains a wonderfully complete set of 17th and early 18th century furnishings. At the west end is the gallery for the singers and musicians - even the music table with four sloping sides, round which the players sat. Under the gallery are two large slate slabs recording the results of a High Court action in 1805 between the vicar and the local landowners about tithes. The broad nave is filled with box-pews, some still with their doors. The pulpit is a magnificent three-decker, complete with tester, or sounding board the Parish Clerk occupied the lowest level, the Minister read the service and the lessons from the middle one, and ascended to the topmost to preach. On the door jamb of a window just west of the pulpit is a lovely fragment of 14th century painting the Royal Arms, Ten Commandments, etc., painted on the