Church of St Dogfael, Meline

The Church of St Dogfael, Meline, Pembrokeshire, Wales is a redundant church dating from the 19th century. A Grade II listed building, the church is now in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.

St Dogfael's Church, Meline
Church of St Dogfael, Meline
"An object lesson in High Victorian geometry"
St Dogfael's Church, Meline Location in Pembrokeshire
52.0152°N 4.7439°W / 52.0152; -4.7439
Location	Meline, Pembrokeshire
Country	Wales
Denomination	Church in Wales
History
Status	Redundant
Founded	1864–1865
Dedication	Saint Dogfael
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	10 December 1997
Architectural type	Church
Specifications
Materials	Stone, slate roof

History and description

The church is dedicated to St Dogfael, and was built between 1864 and 1865. The architect was Robert Jewell Withers and the patron Sir Thomas Lloyd.^[1] Lloyd, a landowner and Member of Parliament for Cardiganshire, claimed descent from the ancient Lords of Cemaes^[2] and spent a considerable amount of his inheritance in pursuit of a peerage and in the construction of a number of buildings on his estate in a Gothic Revival style, including his home, Bronwydd Castle,^[3] the court house at Felindre Farchog,^[4] the restoration of the genuinely medieval castle at Newport^[3] and the little church of St Dogfael.^[a][5]

The church is small and simple. Lloyd, Orbach and Scourfield, in their Pembrokeshire volume of the Buildings of Wales Pevsner, describe it as "an object lesson in High Victorian geometry and minimal extraneous detail".^[6] It is built of sandstone, with Bath stone dressings and a slate roof.^[5] Constructed on the site of an earlier church,^[1] the north doorway may a genuine Norman piece, or a later medieval one, from the original structure.^[6][5] The church is a Grade II listed building^[5] and, having been declared redundant, is now in the care of the charity, the Friends of Friendless Churches.^[1]

Notes

1. Lloyd died, unennobled and massively in debt, in 1876.^[3]