St David's, Llangeview, Monmouthshire

The earliest recorded mention of St David’s church is in 1254. However, the almost circular churchyard surrounded by a bank and itself encircled by a ditch suggests occupation of this Monmouthshire site dates far beyond its 13th-century records.

Most the surviving building dates from the 15th century: the windows, the rood beam and loft all date to this century. But if you look carefully on the windowless north wall, you’ll find one stone carved with a Romanesque pattern. The only trace of the older church.

This is ‘a church that the Victorians largely forgot’, and the interior of this tiny church is rich with 18th-century woodwork: box-pews, pulpit, altar rail with twisted balusters, and the larger, commodious squire’s pew in the chancel — all curiously juxtaposed with the medieval rood loft.

The north side of the nave is completely windowless, setting its face against the harsh weather.