Cwmyoy

Cwmyoy
Welsh: *Cwm-iou*
Cwmyoy Welsh: Cwm-iou;
	Cwmyoy, on the slope of Hatterrall Hill
	Cwmyoy Location within Monmouthshire
OS grid reference	SO299232
Principal area	Monmouthshire;
Preserved county	Gwent;
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ABERGAVENNY
Postcode district	NP7
Dialling code	01600
Police	Gwent
Fire	South Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
UK Parliament	Monmouth;
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	Monmouth;
	List of places UK Wales Monmouthshire 51°54′10″N 3°01′13″W / 51.90291°N 3.02030°W

Cwmyoy is an extensive

rural parish in Monmouthshire, Wales (Welsh: Cwm Iou, for the valley and parish; Welsh: Cwm-iou, for the village). The standard Welsh name is Cwm Iau or Cwm-iau. In the Gwentian dialect of Welsh that was spoken here until the late 1800s, the name was pronounced as Cwm Iou ('ou', also spelt informally 'oi', for standard 'au' is a common feature of south Wales Welsh). The 'English' name is in fact this local dialect form in a more English spelling. The name of the valley probably originates from the Welsh word iau meaning yoke, in reference to the shape of the hill surrounding it.^[1]

The village of Cwmyoy is 7 miles (11 km) north of

Wales–England border and Offa's Dyke Path

.

The parish

The parish is nearly 8 miles (13 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) broad, and includes

exclave of Herefordshire, was transferred into the parish.^[2]

Local amenities

The Cwmyoy area is popular for

hillwalking and pony trekking. Llanthony Priory, Capel-y-ffin and Gospel Pass

are all accessed by passing below Cwmyoy village.

Cwmyoy also has a small

registered charity.^[3]

St Martin's Church

Cwmyoy is best known for St Martin's Church, a stone parish church standing on a steep hillside on the east side of the valley and which has been subject to slippage. It has been called the "most crooked church in Great Britain."^[4]^[5] Local historian Fred Hando (1958) calls it "the Church below the Landslide" and describes the chancel as "a remarkable example of a weeping chancel... the nave represents our Lord's body, and the deflected chancel His head fallen sideways in death." He notes that the whole chancel, not just its axis, is out of line, suggesting it was intentionally built this way and is not the result of the slippage.^[6]

References

^ Owen, H. W.; Morgan, R. (2007). Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales. Llandyssul: Gomer Press.
^ Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire. 1901.
^ "Cwmyoy Memorial Hall". OpenCharities. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
^ Slawych, Diane (19 October 2011). "Weird, wonderful Wales". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
^ "St Martin's Cwmyoy". The Vicarage, St Teilo's church with Bettws Chapel. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
OCLC 30235598
.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cwmyoy.

The Cistercian Way info on Cwmyoy

Descriptive article on the area by Simon Jenkins

Numerous photos of the church at flickr.com

A series of three photos at picasaweb.google.com

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Cwmyoy and surrounding area

Map sources for Cwmyoy

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cwmyoy&oldid=1173595218"

[1] Owen, H. W.; Morgan, R. (2007). Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales. Llandyssul: Gomer Press.

[2] Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire. 1901.

[3] "Cwmyoy Memorial Hall". OpenCharities. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.

[4] Slawych, Diane (19 October 2011). "Weird, wonderful Wales". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2012.

[5] "St Martin's Cwmyoy". The Vicarage, St Teilo's church with Bettws Chapel. Retrieved 3 September 2022.

[6] OCLC 30235598
.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]