The Parish Church of St Hilary () is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in the village of St Hilary in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. It is one of 11 churches in the Parish of Cowbridge. It became a listed building on 22 February 1963.
Name The dedication of a church to the French bishop and saint Hilary of Poitiers is unusual for Britain and probably initially reflected a foundation credited to either the Breton missionary and saint IlarRees, Rice. An Essay on the Welsh Saints or the Primitive Christians Usually Considered to Have Been the Founders of Churches in Wales, p. 224. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman (London), 1836.Stanton, Richard. A Menology of England and Wales: Or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries, p. 703. Burns & Oates, 1892. or the native pilgrim and saint Elian.History of Wallasey. "History of Wallasey Churches". 2014. The relative obscurity of these saints, however, has led the Church in Wales to consider this church a dedication to Saint Hilary instead,Church in Wales. "Churches". 2014. at least as early as the beginning of the 20th century.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al. The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain, Vol. III, pp. 299 f. Chas. Clark (London), 1908. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 25 Nov 2014.
Saint Hilary's own connection with Wales arose from confused accounts that he ordained Saint Cybi as a bishop, although the two were separated by two centuries.Newell, Ebenezer Josiah. A History of the Welsh Church to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, p. 58. E. Stock (London), 1895.Haddan, Arthur West & al. (eds.) Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain, Vol. I, E: "Legendary Lives Exist of the Following British Saints, A.D. 450–700", p. 159. Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1869. Baring-Gould suggests this may have arisen from a confusion with Saint Elian, who was a relative of Cybi's.Baring-Gould & al., Vol. II, pp. 203 f.
Architecture The 14th century, red-tiled church is a substantial structure in the later English style, consisting of a nave, south aisle, and chancel, with a 16th-century embattled tower at the west end. The nave is long and broad including the aisle. The chancel long and wide and the arch dates further back to the twelfth century, evidently from the earlier building which was situated on the site. The eastern window of the south aisle is elegantly design, and that of the chancel is ornamented with stained glass, representing the arms of the Traherne family. The Bassett Family Tomb Enclosure is listed as a Grade II building in its own right. In the chancel is a recumbent figure, in armour, with a Latin inscription, to the memory of Thomas Bassett of Old Beau Pre, who died in 1423. In the south aisle, there is a tablet to the memory of the late Mrs. Traherne, who died in 1796, and to that of her sister, Anna Maria Edmondes.
The church was restored in 1861–1862 "at the expense of Mrs Charlotte Traherne of Coedriglan" under the designs of the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott and Reverend John Montgomery Traherne. A memorial plaque on the lych gate commemorates parishioners who died in World War I.
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