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St Curig's Chapel at Cats Ash is a medieval chapel of which only structural remains survive. The site lies upon Lower Devonian bedrock of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, formed during the Early Devonian period. This geology is typical of the region and would have presented considerable challenges to medieval builders in quarrying and preparing stone for construction.
The chapel is dedicated to St Curig, a saint venerated in Welsh tradition, suggesting a foundation date within the medieval period when such small rural chapels were commonly established as foci for local Christian worship. The surviving remains indicate the basic groundplan and extent of the original structure, though the superstructure has largely been lost to time and weathering of the local stone.
The site is protected and recorded by Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments service, under reference MM175, ensuring its preservation as part of Wales's medieval ecclesiastical heritage. Such modest chapels were integral to the spiritual landscape of medieval Wales, serving dispersed rural communities where larger parish churches were distant or inaccessible.
St Curig's Chapel (Remains of), Cats Ash is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM175. View the official record →
St Curig's Chapel at Cats Ash is a medieval chapel of which only structural remains survive. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MM175.
St Curig's Chapel (Remains of), Cats Ash dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a chapel. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
St Curig's Chapel (Remains of), Cats Ash is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is MM175.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including St. Mary's Churchyard Cross, Llanwern (2.9 km), Bishton Castle (3.4 km), St Julian's Wood Camp (3.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of St Curig's Chapel (Remains of), Cats Ash's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
St Curig's Chapel (Remains of), Cats Ash stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.