St Mary's Priory Church

St Mary’s Priory Church stands in Whitecross Street, Monmouth, a town in Monmouthshire, Wales. Founded in 1075 by Withenoc, a Breton lord, it began as a Benedictine priory and later became the parish church. The present building mostly dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, with a fourteenth-century tower and a 60-metre spire added in 1743. It is the tallest structure in Monmouth, topped by a gilded cockerel weather vane 62 metres above ground. The church was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1952 and is one of 24 sites on the Monmouth Heritage Trail. The interior was rebuilt in 1882 to seat 1,000 people and features notable stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe. The Four Rivers of Paradise window depicts the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates, donated by Charles Henry Crompton-Roberts. Another window shows Edward VII alongside Edward the Confessor, Edward I and Edward the Black Prince, reflecting local patrons like Lord Llangattock. Medieval tiles line the South aisle, including examples made in Malvern and bearing the Bohun swan, badge of Mary de Bohun. The Lady Chapel holds an English Altar with wrought ironwork by Letheren and Martin, who also made the Speaker’s Chair in the House of Commons. Outside, the churchyard contains the remarkable gravestone of John Renie, carved as a 285-letter acrostic puzzle. It is claimed the sentence “Here lies John Renie” can be read in 46,000 different ways. Nearby stands the Prior’s Lodging, with a fifteenth-century oriel window often linked mistakenly to Geoffrey of Monmouth. The churchyard walls, railings and gates are Grade II* listed, with wrought iron gates from 1759 and stone piers from the 1830s. The church remains an active place of worship, part of the Monmouth Group of Parishes within the Church in Wales.