St Mary, Penterry

St Mary’s Church is within the parish of St Arvans. The church is set in a field on a high ridge above the Wye Valley, on a very popular walking route. It is believed to have once served a community probably wiped out by the plague. The church was first mentioned in a charter in 955 AD. By the 13th century part of the parish had become a grange (outlying landholding) of Tintern Abbey. In some documents the grange is described as a Secular Firmary, suggesting that it either housed or maintained a hospital for local people. The present church was largely rebuilt in the mid-19th century, but it retains two mediaeval windows and the base of a stone cross.

In 2001 a committee was formed to save the building and restore regular services. Find out more about the church and its restoration at www.penterry.org.uk.

Penterry at Christmas