St Michael and All Angels Church, Kerry

Archdeacon Thomas suggests that originally Kerry was a Welsh collegiate or 'clas' church of the 7th or 8th century, and the church would have been in the Diocese of Llanbadarn, which came to be merged with the Diocese of St Davids.[3] Some indication the earlier history can be gained from the account of the confrontation of between Gerald of Wales, Archdeacon of Brecon, and Adam Bishop of St Asaph in 1175 A.D., when the church was re-dedicated.[4]

In 1176 there was the subject of an altercation between Gerald of Wales, Archdeacon of Brecon, and the bishop of St Asaph who planned to take it into his own diocese. The confrontation is documented by Giraldus [5] A synopsis of this text in English is given by Archdeacon Thomas,[6] and there is a commemorative plaque of 1818 about the event on the west wall of the north aisle. The rededication in 1176, presumably to St Michael, raises the question of an earlier dedication. Thomas pointed out that the bell with the inscription to 'Sante Egevire' (= Gwyr) might give an indication. The new church in 1176 was of stone, the only trace today being the remnants of the nave arcades. With its north and south aisles and perhaps a small chancel occupying what is now the east end of the nave, it was a building of some size and presumably importance. In 1246 Henry de Bretun was presented to the living of 'Sancti Michaelis de Kery', and at this time it was a collegiate establishment. The church was recorded as 'Eccl'ia de Kery' in the 1291 Lincoln Taxation with a value of £20.[7]

Interior Kerry Church before 1882

The church was transferred from St Davids into the diocese of St Asaph in 1849. In 1853, a report by T. H. Wyatt stated that the structure was in an unsatisfactory condition and should be pulled down but, other than some repairs to the tower, no action was taken.[16] Archdeacon Thomas provides an illustration which shows the interior of Kerry church before the restoration of 1883.[17] The illustration is from the chancel looking down the nave and shows the old box pews. Memorials, now on the west wall are shown above the nave arcade and opposite them are the hatchments now on the aisle wall. A gallery is shown at the west or tower end of the nave.

The pulpit is Victorian, with fragments from the 15th-century screen. The chancel screen and lectern date from the restoration of 1883. The stained-glass east window of the Resurrection is by Charles Eamer Kempe of 1871. Monuments, mainly on the west wall of chancel and aisle, include Margaretta Herbert who died 1838 depicting a female figure with a book, a dove and light descending; Harriet Lang who died 1847 with two Gothic arches and canopy; John Herbert who died 1807, by C. Lewis with a mourning woman leaning on a broken pillar, the capital lying upturned beside; the Reverend John Catlyn, died 1717, a slab with an incised angel; and John Owen Herbert, died 1821, with a draped urn above an oval tablet in a rectangle. There is also a memorial to Richard Jones, died 1788, who was a Royal Navy Purser who founded the Black Hall School and a generous benefactor to the parish.[18] The elaborate memorial consists of two free-standing children, one reading and one writing, beside a yellow marble sarcophagus, with a bust of Jones on top; it cost £525. Details of the trustees' stewardship are inscribed below. In the North aisle there are two hatchments with the arms of the Herberts of Dolforgan Hall.[19]

The churchyard contains war graves of four British soldiers of World War I,[20]

This list is abstracted from a more extensive listing given by Archdeacon Thomas.[21]

• List of churches in Powys

• Butler H E. (2005 – new edition), The Autobiography of Gerald of Wales, Woodbridge, 49–56.
• Jerman H. N., (1976), Kerry, the Church and Village, A guide.
• Rowley-Morris E., (1891) History of the Parish of Kerry, Montgomeryshire Collections XXV, including plan and details, pp380–1;
• Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013), The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire, Yale University Press.pp. 125–6.
• Stevenson D. (2007), The Lordship of Ceri in the Thirteenth Century, Montgomeryshire Collections, pp. 23–31.
• Thomas, D.R.( 1913), History of the Diocese of Saint Asaph, Vol 1, 516.
• Thurlby M., (2005), Romanesque Architecture and Sculpture in Wales, Logaston Press.

• CPAT. Montgomeryshire Church Surveys
• RCAHMW. Records on Coflein
• Church of St Michael and All Angels- British Listed Buildings