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| Golwg o dref y Grysmwnt. Grosmont Town view. Image/Llun: AP_2004_0441 |
Eglwys fawr yw eglwys Sain Nicolas yn y Grysmwnt. Mae hi wedi cadw llawer iawn o naws eglwys o’r drydedd ganrif ar ddeg ac fe’i codwyd hi fwy neu lai yr un pryd â’r castell a oedd yn ganolbwynt yr arglwyddiaeth. Gwasanaethai’r eglwys garsiwn y castell a’r fwrdeistref newydd ac mae iddi gynllun croesffurf uchelgeisiol a thŵr canolog. Er i lawer ohoni gael ei hailgodi yn y 19eg ganrif, nid felly ei chanol hir, a thipyn o syndod i’r ymwelydd heddiw yw gweld arcedau a tho yn tra-arglwyddiaethu ar du mewn canoloesol diaddurn.
Er bod cymeriad y to hynafol yn gwbl wahanol i gymeriad unrhyw do arall yng Nghymru sydd wedi goroesi o’r Oesoedd Canol, ceir enghreifftiau tebyg iddo yn ne Lloegr. Diffinnir y baeau gan gyplau plaen iawn o ddistiau trwm. Mae pyst yn codi o’r dynlath i’r coler gorunedig ac o’r coler i’r grib; mae’r cyplau wedi’u clymu’n dynn wrth dulath goler i rwystro unrhyw ddirdynnu. Gan fod y math hwn o bwyslath yn beth prin, mae’n anodd ei ddyddio’n fanwl-gywir. Ac er bod toeon o’r fath yn drawiadol, maent yn perthyn i’r cyfnod cyn i noddwyr sylweddoli bod modd addurno holl faeau’r to. A all y to ddyddio’n ôl i gyfnod sefydlu’r eglwys yn y 13eg ganrif? Os felly, dyma’r to eglwys cynharaf yng Nghymru ac un o’r rhai cynharaf ym Mhrydain. Comisiynwyd dyddio blwyddgylchau’r coed ynddo i ddyddio’r to’n wyddonol.
Ildiodd y samplau dystiolaeth annibynnol dda a awgrymai i’r coed gael eu cwympo, mae’n debyg, rhwng 1214 a 1244. Dyddiad calonogol o gynnar. Mae hynny’n gyson â chymeriad corff yr eglwys a godwyd yn y drydedd ganrif ar ddeg ac yn dangos i’r to oroesi ers cyfnod cyntaf yr adeiladu, sef, yn fwy na thebyg, pan oedd Hubert de Burgh yn arglwydd y Grysmwnt ym 1219–32. Ym 1227, mae’r Rholiau Clos yn cofnodi i Harri III roi hanner can derwen o goedwig Trefil i de Burgh i godi adeiladau newydd yn y Grysmwnt. Mae’n debyg iawn, felly, mai’r rheiny a ddefnyddiwyd wrth godi to’r eglwys yn ogystal ag wrth godi’r castell. Nid yn unig y mae gan Eglwys y Grysmwnt y to cynharaf sydd wedi’i ddyddio’n wyddonol yng Nghymru, ond mae’n debyg mai ganddi hi y mae’r unig do eglwys yng Nghymru o’r cyfnod cyn 1400. Mae hynny i’w briodoli i gadernid y to ac i’r ffaith mai dirywio fu hanes y fwrdeistref yn ddiweddarach yn yr Oesoedd Canol.
Cysylltau:
- Cofnod Castell y Grysmwnt NPRN 93388
- Cofnod Eglwys Sain Nicolas yn Coflein: NPRN 221965
- Y Grŵp Pensaernïaeth Frodorol: Cronfa Ddata Dendrocronoleg
- Gair am y Grysmwnt (Cyngor Cymuned y Grysmwnt)
A castle-borough church: St Nicholas, Grosmont, Monmouthshire
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Golwg o du mewn Eglwys Sain Nicolas yn y Grysmwnt. Interior View of St Nicholas Church, Grosmont. Image/Llun: DI2010_1126 |
St Nicholas, Grosmont, is a large church with a strong thirteenth-century character and more or less contemporary with the castle which was the centre of the lordship. The church served both the castle garrison and the new borough. The church has an ambitious cruciform plan with a central tower. Much of the church was rebuilt in the 19th century, but the long, aisled nave was spared reconstruction and is a shock to the modern visitor who encounters an uncluttered medieval interior dominated by the arcades and roof.
The roof has an archaic character quite unlike any other surviving medieval roof in Wales although there are comparable examples in southern England. The bays are defined by very plain trusses of heavy scantling. Posts rise from tie-beam to lap-jointed collar and from collar to ridge; the trusses are impressively braced to a collar-purlin to prevent racking. This type of king-strut roof is rare and difficult to date with precision. While impressive, they belong to the period before the appreciation of the decorative possibilities of the heavily-bayed roof. Could it be that this roof dates back to the foundation of the church in the 13th century? If so, it would be the earliest surviving church roofs in Wales and one of the earliest in the United Kingdom. Tree-ring dating was commissioned to date the roof scientifically.
Sampling provided good independent dating evidence and gave a likely felling-date range of 1214-1244. This felling-date range is gratifyingly early. It is consistent with the thirteenth-century character of the nave and shows that the roof has survived from the first phase of building, probably when Hubert de Burgh was lord of Grosmont in 1219–32. In 1227 the Close Rolls record that Henry III granted de Burgh fifty oaks from the forest of Trevill for his new buildings at Grosmont. It seems very likely that these were used for the church roof as well as for the castle. Not only has Grosmont Church the earliest scientifically dated roof in Wales, it appears to be the only surviving pre-1400 church roof in Wales, attributable to the substantial nature of the roof and the later medieval decay of the borough.
Links:
- Grosmont Castle NPRN 93388
- St Nicholas Church NPRN 221965
- Vernacular Architecture Group: Dendrochronology Database
- About Grosmont (Grosmont Community Council)
Cyhoeddiadau/Publication:
BBC2 Wales - Hidden Histories - Series 3
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