{"id":20152,"date":"2022-09-29T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=32412"},"modified":"2022-09-29T13:45:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T11:45:17","slug":"britains-most-beautiful-country-churches","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/britains-most-beautiful-country-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s most beautiful country churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Richard Hayman\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 29 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The landscape of the UK is defined not just by its hills, rivers, woods and farmland, but by its buildings, and none more so than the historic centrepiece of almost every village and small town: the parish church.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Go for a walk in the British countryside and it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ll come across a rural church. They provide a place to shelter, a chance to learn about the local community and a glimpse into the\u00a0history of the surrounding landscape.<\/div>\n\n
Atmospheric, beautiful and mysterious, Britain\u2019s rural churches are an extraordinary national treasure.<\/div>\n\n
From towering cathedrals to tiny chapels, here\u2019s our expert guide to some of the best country churches to visit in the UK.<\/div>\n

Best rural churches in Scotland<\/h2>\n

Croick Church, Sutherland<\/h3>\n
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Croick church in Sutherland\/Credit: John Ferguson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Ten miles up the lonely Strathcarron valley, this humble utilitarian church is forever linked to a group who became refugees in their own land \u2013 a fate echoed in the Christmas story. Evicted in 1845 during the notorious Highland Clearances, 80 people\u00a0lived temporarily in the Croick<\/a> churchyard. Cryptic reports of their sad story were later etched on the church windows by unknown hands.<\/p>\n

St Mary and\u00a0St Finnan, Glenfinnan, Highland<\/h3>\n
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Glenfinnan\u2019s church sits on the shores of Loch Shiel\/Credit: Neilgiven<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Gothic in style, the Church of St Mary and St Finnan<\/a> stands like a stoical watchman over the mountain-flanked\u00a0waters of Loch Shiel, surely one of Britain\u2019s most enchanting landscapes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In autumn and winter, as day breaks from a cloudless night, the glen is particularly magical. Frost envelops everything:\u00a0<\/span>the pine trees, the mountain ridges, the church\u2019s pitched roof. It dusts frozen puddles, crunches beneath feet and petrifies plants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seek refuge from the cold inside the church\u00a0then venture into the Highlands on a walk past the wizards\u2019 railway to a lonely mountain pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crathie Kirk Church, Aberdeenshire<\/h3>\n
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Crathie Kirk on the Balmoral Estate\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Built from local granite with a Scots pine roof, Crathie Kirk<\/a> may look humble but \u2013 being down the road from Balmoral Castle<\/a> \u2013 it has been a place of worship and solace for British royalty for more than\u00a0150 years. A neat Gothic church with a square tower, the kirk sits on a hill overlooking the River Dee and is full of fascinating royal history, including windows donated by Queen Victoria.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Best rural churches in Wales<\/h2>\n

St Cwyfan\u2019s Church-in-the-Sea, Anglesey<\/h3>\n
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St Cwyfan\u2019s Church-in-the-Sea, Anglesey\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

An intriguing stone rubble, single-cell parish church<\/a> set on a tiny islet restricted to its churchyard, now revetted by a dramatic, high stone wall. Parts of the building may date from the 12th century.<\/p>\n

Church of the Holy Cross, Mwnt, Ceredigion<\/h3>\n
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Church at Mwnt on the Ceredigion coast path\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Sheltering from brutal south-westerlies beneath Foel-y-Mwnt hill is Eglwys y Grog<\/a>, the Church of the Holy Cross. That it\u2019s dedicated to a cross rather than a saint suggests antiquity. It\u2019s possible that a stone cross once stood on Foel-y-Mwnt in the 5th or 6th century.<\/p>\n

It would have been clearly visible to the early Christians who travelled here in small wooden boats in search of wilderness and solitude, many of whom went on to found churches that bore their own names.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St\u00a0Tanwg Church, Gwynedd<\/h3>\n
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The Parish church of St Tanwg, located in the dunes at Llandanwg\/ Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u2018The church in the sand<\/a>\u2019 in Llandanwg lies to the south of Harlech Castle and overlooks Cardigan Bay. A Grade I-listed building, this bleakly beautiful medieval church is just 20m from the high-water mark and features large whitewashed walls. Look for the 6th-century gravestone embedded in the south sanctuary window.<\/p>\n

Eglwys Sant Rhychwyn, Llanrhychwyn, Conwy<\/h3>\n
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Eglwys Sant Rhychwyn, Llanrhychwyn, Conwy\/Credit: Wikimedia, Llywelyn2000<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The oldest surviving church in Wales, St Rhychwyn\u2019s Church,\u00a0Llanrhychwyn<\/a>, sits shyly behind a screen of trees in a farmer\u2019s field. Services here are rare, but everyone is welcome on the second Sunday in December for carol singing. Check out one of the south-aisle windows: it contains the oldest glass in the Principality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Church of St Issui, Partrishow, near Abergavenny, Powys<\/h3>\n
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Church of St Issui sits in\u00a0the southern hills of the Brecon Beacons National Park\/ Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Several country miles across rolling hills will bring you to the small Church of St Issui<\/a> in the southern Brecon Beacons National Park<\/a>. The site is idyllic, close to a holy well, and with its own stable in the churchyard. Inside you will find one of Britain\u2019s oldest fonts and one of the most intricately carved medieval wooden screens in Britain.<\/p>\n

Llangelynin Old Church,\u00a0Conwy<\/h3>\n
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Llangelynin Old Church, Conwy\/Credit: Geogrpah<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Solitude is more or less guaranteed at the remote church of Llangelynin in North Wales. It is a small, unspoilt medieval church with a holy well in the churchyard, set in an upland landscape of drystone field walls. The interior was spared the excesses of Victorian restorers and has a 16th-century oak roof and painted Welsh texts on the walls.<\/p>\n

Best rural churches in Northern Ireland<\/span><\/h2>\n

Saul Church, County Down<\/h3>\n
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Saul Church, site of the first Christian convert in Ireland made by St. Patrick\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Saul church<\/a> is a 1932 replica of an earlier church with a round tower that stood on this important Christian site. For it was here that St Patrick is said to have made his first landfall on Irish shores in 432 and where he died 29 years later. It\u2019s two miles outside Downpatrick, tucked away in the southwest of Strangford Lough.<\/p>\n

Best rural churches in England<\/h2>\n

St Martin\u2019s Church, Wiltshire<\/h3>\n
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St Martin\u2019s 13th-century church at Fifield Bavant in Wiltshire\/Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The village of Fifield Bavant is the smallest in Wiltshire with just two houses and 10 cottages, while the adult population of 19 is just one more than was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. This fine church<\/a> boasts original stone and flint checkerboard walls and a Norman font.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Church of the Good Shepherd,\u00a0Lullington, East Sussex<\/h3>\n
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Church of the Good Shepherd,\u00a0Lullington\/Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This 16-foot-square 13th-century church<\/a> with its white weather-boarded belfry is the smallest in Sussex, seating only 20. The building is the remains of the chancel of a much larger church that was destroyed by fire, probably in the time of Oliver Cromwell. It was rededicated to The Good Shepherd in 2000.<\/p>\n

St Peter\u2019s, Besford, Worcestershire<\/h3>\n
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St Peter\u2019s church, Besford\/Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This predominantly 14th-century church<\/a> features a stone chancel and 15th-century timber-framed nave. The latter is the only example in Worcestershire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St Thomas\u2019s Church, Lancashire<\/h3>\n
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St Thomas\u2019s Church surrounded by winter hills\/ Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

St Thomas\u2019s Church<\/a> was strategically positioned to glower upon Mellor\u2019s village brethren who ascended\u00a0a wearying path to worship. The font is possibly from the first millennium, carved with figures on horseback, possibly with Viking influences. The pulpit is 700 years old and tilts like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, all but falling into the lap of the congregation.<\/p>\n

Old Church of St Lawrence, Isle of Wight<\/h3>\n
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Old Church of St Lawrence near Ventnor on the Isle of Wight\/ Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

To find this tiny Grade II-listed 13th-century church<\/a>, you must follow a narrow, wooded alleyway off the Undercliff, a road closed to cars due to landslip. Originally just 20ft long and 12ft wide, it was considered the smallest church in England. The exquisite interior features a 15th-century baptismal font and 18th-century coat pegs.<\/p>\n

Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck, Herefordshire<\/h3>\n
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Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck\/ Credit: Geograph<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

From a distance Kilpeck looks like a humble village church<\/a>, but it was built in the 1130s as a private chapel and has some of the most sophisticated decoration in a 12th-century English church. Much of it was inspired by churches in France and Italy seen on pilgrimages to Rome and Compostella.<\/p>\n

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