Church Of St Michael And All Angels

St Michael and All Angels stands in the small village of Kerry, about five kilometres south-east of Newtown in Powys. The churchyard is almost oval, with the building at its centre. A stone tower topped by a timber-framed belfry rises above the nave. Only the north aisle arcade survives from the 12th-century church rebuilt in 1176. The main body was reconstructed in 1882–83 by George Edmund Street for James Walton of Dolforgan Hall. The church’s early history reaches back to a possible 7th-century clas church. In 1176 Gerald of Wales, Archdeacon of Brecon, re-dedicated it after a dispute with the Bishop of St Asaph. A commemorative plaque of 1818 on the north aisle wall recalls this event. The Norman arcades with cylindrical columns are among the most interesting features. Malcolm Thurlby has studied these arcades in detail. Inside, the nave and aisles have fine 15th-century roofs with arch-braced principals. The chancel wagon roof was replaced in 1883 and includes restored medieval canopy work. The tower houses three bells, and tree-ring dating shows the timber belfry was added in 1525–26. Memorials on the west wall include works by C. Lewis and Charles Eamer Kempe’s stained-glass east window. The churchyard holds war graves of four British soldiers from the First World War.