Llancillo
Llancillo was called Lann Suluiu ( also Sulbiu / Suliau). Suluiu's Church in a c.620 charter giving 200 acres to Bishop Ufelfyw (in the 'Book of Llandaff'). Suluiu derives from Tysilio.
St. Tysilio
The son of the Prince of Powys, was a cousin of St. Asaph and St. Deiniol (see: Llangarron). He became a monk at the important ecclesiastical monastery of Meifod in Powys. His father was furious so he fled to the Menai Straits and founded a church at Landyssilio. After the 615/6 AD Battle of Chester, his father and then brother died, and his sister-in-law decided to marry Tysilio and rule with him. Tysilio objected and fled to Brittany changing his name to Suliau. Possible this church dedication was made by St. Beuno who had stayed with Tysilio at Meifod. (See Zaluckyj pages 106-108)
The common Welsh prefix llan, church, implies a convergence of churches and tracks. A church was built where paths met, and conversely a church meant many paths to it would develop. So both reasons for the name are true.
The importance of the site is perhaps the reason a motte-and-bailey stands so near.
Church: St. Peter
- originally St. Tysilio
- The Church chancel is late 11th or early 12th century. The cross base outside is medieval.
- The Church was repaired in the 17th and 19th centuries but is now redundant.
- Contact Llancillo Court if you wish to visit.
Rowlestone
The name Rowle / Rolles is Old Norse, from Hrōlf who evidently owned this tun, a defended house complex. It is fascinating to find a Norseman / Dane / Viking living here with his family and servants.
Church: St. Peter
- (now coupled with Llancillo Church)
- This Church was built c.1130 but, as it is possible it may have had a semi-circular apse, this building may have replaced an older Church. In the 15th–16th century alterations were made. The tower is 16th–17th century and the Church has modern repairs.
- Norman structure with superb carving from the Herefordshire School of Romanesque Sculpture.
- The wonderfully preserved tympanum over the south door represents 'Christ in Majesty', supported by four swooping angels, with the feet together and the knees apart, wearing pleated garments like those in the carvings at Kilpeck and Shobdon Churches.
- The medieval carver was clearly enchanted with birds sculpting them, often in foliage, even on capitals. The bird motif here, cockerels and swans, was echoed by the two 15th/16th century metal candle–brackets with decorative cockerels and swans. The upside–down cockerels probably commemorate St. Peter's style of crucifixion.
- There is a face in foliage that is a form of a 'greenman'. The decorative features must have been even more striking with the original paint.
- The three bells are 17th century. There is modern stained-glass and a medieval cross base with a modern shaft in the graveyard.
- Near the Church is Rowlestone motte–and–bailey Castle, one of the early Norman fortifications along Welsh / English border. There are more motte–and–baileys in west Herefordshire than in the east. (motte = man–made mound for a tower : bailey = a defended area for stores, horses, and people to live).
