The Church of St Swithin is a parish church in Ganarew, south Herefordshire, England. The parish church is dedicated to St Swithin,[1] although the 1868 National Gazetteer notes a dedication to St Luke. The parish is within the Church of England Diocese of Hereford, and the church is a Grade II listed building.[2]
Giles Rawlines served as rector in 1624.[3] Tamalanc, a son of Brychan, may be the same person as Tiuinauc (or Tywinauc or Tywannog), a patron saint connected with the Church of St Swithin's history.[4] The church was rebuilt in about 1850 by John Prichard, a noted church builder and restorer of the Victorian period.[5] The church required the expensive restoration because of the failing foundations.[6]
The church is of the English Gothic architectural style, described by Pevsner as Middle Pointed or Decorated Period,[7] and by Historic England simply as Decorated.[8] It is built of sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings and a tiled roof. The nave has windows with hoodmoulds. They have cusped ogee-headed lights and spandrels. The bellcote has similar cusped ogee-headed openings and a small spire with decorative lucarnes.[8]
The reredos inside the church forms the village war memorial, a sculpture in white marble featuring the figure of Christ accompanied by two angels.[9]
The graveyard contains a Gothic pinnacle[7] memorial to the Bannerman family who lived nearby at Wyastone Leys. The medieval churchyard cross is a scheduled ancient monument.[10] There is also a war grave of a Royal Engineers soldier of World War I.[11]
