St Issui's Church

St Issui’s Church stands in the quiet hamlet of Partrishow, high in the Vale of Grwyne in Powys, Wales. The present building dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries, though its foundations were laid in 1060. The church is built of local rubble with slate roofs in the Gothic style. A separate shrine-chapel lies to the west, and the churchyard contains a preaching cross and a Grade II-listed well. The building has escaped major damage through the centuries, including the Reformation and Victorian restorations. The church is best known for its rood screen, completed in 1500. Experts Richard Scourfield and Robert Haslam call it “the most perfect and elegant now standing in the kingdom.” Simon Jenkins describes it as “exquisitely wrought,” its frieze crowded with dragons and vines. Four groups of wall paintings survive, including Stuart royal arms, Biblical texts, and a 17th- or 18th-century Doom Figure holding hourglass, spade and scythe. The Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments recognises the arms as those of James I. Inside, the nave has a 16th-century wagon roof and Tudor windows in the south wall. The chancel roof was rebuilt by W. D. Caröe during his careful restoration of 1908–1909. A stone bench faces the preaching cross, and the bellcote holds two bells in a replacement stone frame. The shrine-chapel and churchyard cross share Grade II listings, while the church itself remains an active parish church in the Vale of Grwyne.