The name or dedication of the church.
This identifies the church type. Most churches are parish churches which means they serve a specific parish or area. Other types such as chapel, daughter and mission are mostly historic designations as many are now also parish churches. Please note that former churches are no longer used for worhsip and may be in private ownership.
A unique identification number given to every church.
The name of the diocese in which the church is located.
The name of the archdeaconry in which the church is located.
This is the legal name of the parish as given by the Church Commissioners.
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There are 3 levels of listing: Grade I, II* & II. The majority of buildings which are of special interest are Grade II. A much smaller number of particularly important buildings are listed as Grade II*. Buildings of exceptional interest (approx 2% of the total number of listed buildings) are Grade I.
Ancient monuments and archaeological remains of national importance are protected by law. Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service is responsible for compiling a schedule (list) of these ancient monuments, some of which can be found in churches and churchyards. Examples can include churchyard crosses and the archaeological remains of previous churches or buildings on the site.
There are three National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacons. These protect 20 percent of the land in Wales, including precious landscapes, habitats, villages and heritage sites.
There are over 500 conservation areas in Wales. They are designated by local planning authorities for their special architectural and historic interest.
The Buildings at Risk register is managed by Cadw (the Welsh Government’s historic environment service) in order to identify the number and type of listed buildings at risk in Wales.
It is often extremely difficult to determine a precise date of construction for a church as many have been extensively altered over time. Church Heritage Cymru therefore shows a date range within which a church is believed to have been constructed. The dates are as follows: Early Medieval (pre 1066), Medieval (post 1066 to 1540), Post Medieval (1540 to 1837), Victorian/Pre WWI (1837 to 1914) and Modern (post 1914).
The name/dedication of the church and its location.
A brief description of the image
The date the image was created.
Details of any copyright are displayed here.
The name of the person who uploaded the image.
This is a very brief summary of the church's main features. More detailed nformation can be found in the other fields and pages (tabs) in this database.
Useful information is displayed here for people wishing to visit the church. This may include things like opening hours, catering & toilet facilities, parking, etc.
If the church has its own website the details will be displayed here.
Any further sources of information for the church will be listed here (eg. links to other historic databases).
This is the Ordnance Survey (OS) reference for the location of the church. Some locations will be approximate as this data is continuously being refined and updated.
This is the name of the Local Authoirity within which the church is located.
This describes how the church relates to its immediate and wider environment, sometimes called its setting. It describes how the church contributes to its landscape or townscape and how these things collectively contribute to the character of the area.
The Church of St James is located in the coastal village of Manorbier, just off the A4139 which links the larger towns of Pembroke to the west and Tenby to the east. It is approached from the north-east along the B4585, the main route through the village. The majority of the buildings here appear to date from the 18th or 19th century and consist mainly of two and three storey rendered domestic dwellings interspaced with one or two commercial and retail properties. Modern 20th century housing has grown up behind the older properties on the outskirts of the village. The oldest buildings are the medieval castle and church (and its former grange buildings), which face each other across a small valley that gently slopes down to the sea in the southern part of the village.
The village falls within the Manorbier/Freshwater East Conservation Area which is characterised by a large tract of rolling lowland with an indented rocky cliff coastline, steep slopes, small sheltered coves and coastal grassland above. The surrounding land is mainly agricultural with smalll and medium-sized fields with traditional hedgerows, interspersed with villages, hamlets and scattered farmsteads.
The present day landscape is one almost wholly shaped by medieval territorial organisation, settlements and land use, very different from that encountered in north and west Pembrokeshire. This is typified by the medieval open field system which has survived remarkably well in the area. The strip fields which lie either side of the Ridgeway between nearby Lamphey and to the south of St Florence are a good example. Manorbier itself is a Registered Landscape of Special Historic Interest in Wales and in addition to the medieval church and castle, has a Neolithic chambered tomb on the nearby coast path known as the King’s Quoit.
Main reference: Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Manorbier/Freshwater East Landscape Character Assessment.
The name/dedication of the church to which the plan refers.
A brief description of the plan. eg. who created it and where it came from.
The date the plan was created.
The details of any copyright are displayed here.
The name of the person who inputted the plan.
This is a description of the ground plan of the church.
Nave with adjacent north and south aisles, north & south transcepts, misaligned chancel and south porch. Tower and vestry attached to the north wall of the chancel.
If known, the dimensions (measurements) of the church ground plan will be displayed here.
Nave approximately 12.5m x 5.5m, Chancel 5.5m x 5m, north aisle 18.5m x 4.5m, south aisle 16m x 2m.
If the footrprint (area) of the church is known, it will be displayed here.
A description of the history and archaeology of the church and its site.
The wider area has been settled since prehistoric times as evidenced by the Neolithic chambered tomb (known as the King’s Quoit) on the nearby coast path, although the present day landscape is one almost wholly shaped by medieval territorial organisation, settlements and land use.
The Church of St James at Manorbier dates from the C12. Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), of the de Barri family of nearby Manorbier Castle, recounts how he took refuge there in 1153. The earliest surviving part of the building is the nave from this period. The Church had an early connection with the Benedictines of Monkton, and a Prior of Monkton, Master Richard, was its first recorded Rector in 1251. The original building was greatly enlarged during the next hundred years with a rebuilt chancel and transepts and a new tower, aisles and porch. The north aisle is almost equal in height and width to the nave and is virtually a second nave and may have functioned as the Parish Church while the main nave and the chancel were still in exclusive conventual use. Mediaeval ceiling paintings survive in the porch.
In 1301 Sir John de Barri granted the church to Monkton Priory. However, as an alien house, Monkton lost the advowson and the Rectorial land and tithes during the Hundred Years War with France. With the Dissolution the whole church became the Parish Church in Manorbier. It is not clear at what date the north wall of the nave was pierced to form an arcade of low arches similar to, but not aligned with, those formed in the south wall when the south aisle was added. The Rood figures were removed in 1707 and replaced by the Royal Arms of King William, painted on boards. These are now repositioned on the north wall, to which they were moved during the major restoration by Frederick Wehnert in 1865-8. The restoration also saw the Rood Loft moved to the north aisle and a large chancel arch formed in place of the low, narrow Norman one. Perpendicular tracery was removed from the east window in favour of the trefoil-headed lancets, more in keeping with Victorian preference. The church interior was replastered throughout and the vaults in the tower were pierced in 1920 for the re-installation of a bell.
Main reference: Cadw list description.
A description of the exterior of the church and the main features of the churchyard.
The Church of St James consists of a nave with adjacent north and south aisles, north & south transcepts, misaligned chancel and south porch. The tower and vestry are attached to the north wall of the chancel. The whole presents an irregular grouping dominated by the two masses of the tower and the north aisle linked by the stepping-down projection of the north transept and the chapel. Generally, built from local limestone rubble masonry with some local sandstone, as in the tower. Slate roofs with gable parapets and finial crosses with a bellcote at the east end of the north aisle. Slender tower of local type, with four storeys and crenellated parapet on corbels, but without the usual stair turret. Three large belfry lights with stone louvres to north (towards village), single lights to the east and west and none towards the south Lancet at ground storey facing north. A blocked west door in the nave nave with equilateral arch formed to two large curved stones. The blocked door of the north aisle also an equilateral arch but formed of voussoirs. The very low height of these archways shows the outside ground level has risen considerably (1-2 m).
Reference: Cadw list description.
Information about any noteable architects, artists, people, or events associated with the church.
Information about any important features and building fabric.
If known, a list of the church's major building material/s will be displayed here.
Any renewable energy systems the church is using will be listed here.
A brief description of the image.
Copyright details.
The name of the person who inputted the image.
This section gives a general description of the interior of the church. Further details of any important internal fixtures and fittings will be listed below.
Nave approximately 12.5 m by 5.5 m wide with a high pointed vault. Although pointed its Norman character is indicated by a surviving high-level round-headed window in the S side, partly blocked by an arch of the subsequently formed S arcade. The original chancel arch was low and narrow and the present arch, though larger, imitates the squat, low-springing form of the nave arcades. Above it, seen from the nave, are several Rood-Loft corbels and a high level ladder hook.
Chancel 5.5 m by 5 m, built c.1250 on older foundations. Its axis is markedly inclined to the right relative to the nave (compare Castlemartin Church). A C14 de Barri effigy repositioned on the N side. Door to adjacent vestry. Arch to tower. A blocked Priest?s door in the S wall. C19 sedilia. E window of 3 lancets. The N and S transepts added c.1250. The S Transept now contains the organ. The N transept has a high level window in the gable, now converted to 2 lights. The Tower was added in the angel between the N transept and the chancel. It is small in area, 4.6 m square internally, and may not originally have been intended to be so high. Its entrance is by a loft-level doorway in the N transept.
The N aisle is 18.5 m by 4.5 m. The external doorway in the N wall is blocked. A door seen internally in the N wall leads to stairs in the wall thickness leading to the resited Rood-Loft and indirectly to the tower. A carved label mould terminal of this doorway is of a style dated to the C13. There are traces of red and blue paint on the Rood-Loft timbers.The chantry chapel, which is an extension of the N transept, originally housed the de Barri effigy which is taken to be John de Barri, d.1324. This chapel is unusually roofed with vaulting on close set thick transverse ribs. In 1960 this part was formed into a Memorial Chapel with a new timber screen.
S aisle 16 m by 2 m, also vaulted but beneath a lean-to roof. A wide squint between the S transept and the nave enables the altar to be seen from the S entrance door. Water-stoup recess beside porch door. Porch at S with a high vault, with surviving mediaeval paintings in floral patterns within panels. The church has 2 fonts, one small and octagonal, on a modern base. The other a font of Norman type, presently in use. This has been re-tooled overall in modern times. At rear of nave are 2 blocks of pews probably predating the re-pewing of c.1865. In the N aisle is a Celtic-cross war memorial.
Information about the church's important internal fixtures and fittings.
Information about the church's important moveable items and artworks.
A description of the ecology of the churchyard.
Information about the presence of bats in the church building or churchyard.
Records whether the church has been consecrated.
Records whether there have been burials in the churchyard.
Records whether the churchyard is still being used for burials.
Records whether there are any war graves in the churchyard.
Any important churchyard structures will be listed here.
Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship of the church to its surrounding area and helps place it within its wider landscape context.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the significance of the historic building fabric of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the historic significance of the interior of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship between the church and its community.