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St. Faith's Churchyard Cross, Llanfoist is a medieval cross standing in the churchyard of St. Faith's Church in Monmouthshire, Wales. The monument is protected by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument (reference MM306) and represents a significant example of parish religious provision in the medieval period. Such crosses typically served as focal points for worship and community gatherings within Welsh churchyards, often marking burial grounds and functioning as symbols of Christian authority in their landscapes.
The cross rises from foundations set into the Lower Devonian bedrock that underlies the Llanfoist area, a geology of mudstones, siltstones and sandstones deposited during the Early Devonian period over 400 million years ago. This ancient geological base provides stable ground for structures of medieval date. The precise architectural details and original height of the cross reflect the craftsmanship and resources available to the medieval parish community that erected and maintained it.
St. Faith's Churchyard Cross survives as a rare and valuable record of medieval Welsh religious practice and monument-building tradition. Its continued presence in the churchyard, where it has stood through centuries of use and change, makes it an important heritage asset for understanding the spiritual and material culture of medieval Monmouthshire and the broader traditions of cross-erection across Wales.
St. Faith's Churchyard Cross, Llanfoist is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM306. View the official record →
St. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MM306.
St. Faith's Churchyard Cross, Llanfoist dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a cross. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
St. Faith's Churchyard Cross, Llanfoist 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 MM306.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including St. Bartholomew's Churchyard Cross, Llanover (4.9 km), Blaenafon Ironworks (5.4 km), Capel Newydd, Blaenavon (site of) (5.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of St. Faith's Churchyard Cross, Llanfoist'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. Faith's Churchyard Cross, Llanfoist stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.