St Justinian's

The Parish Church of Freystrop is situated at Lower Freystrop about a quarter of a mile from the river Cleddau on land originally belonging to the Picton Castle estate.  It nestles into the hillside and is hardly visible from the road.

 

The church is dedicated to St. Justinian, one of the lesser-known saints, but who was a great friend of  St. David and is reputed to be buried in the same casket.

The church was built on an ancient Celtic site over 3,500 years old and clearly visible from an aerial view.  The Yew tree at the end of the graveyard is also around the same age. Yew trees were often planted at Celtic sites and Christians commonly took over these existing sites to build churches.

The font is Norman, which suggests that there has been a church was on this site for almost 1,000 years.  The little window in the north aisle is also very old.

Any early records kept in the church have long succumbed to damp;  the first mention we can find is in the Ecclesiastic records 1390 when the Rector was David Dedwyth.  Then in 1398 the Bishop gave permission for the Rector, the Rev. John Hyndon, to have ‘leave of absence’ for a year.  There have been about 31 Rectors since.

A recent discovery in the church proved very exciting.  An old iron chest, which had been taken for granted, is actually the original Freystrop Register Chest dated 1613. In 1598 records were to be kept properly in ‘great decent books of parchment’ as previous records were often on scraps of paper.  The cost of the new books was to be met by charging for entries which was opposed by many and the act was finally enforced in 1603.  Finance was to be born by the parish and the books were to be kept in a locked chest.

In 1852 a census recorded the population of Freystrop as 680.  The average attendance over a nine-month period was 90.  This more than doubled after the renovations.

In 1874 the church was virtually rebuilt on its earlier foundations at a cost of £600 raised by the then Rector, Jackson Taylor.  The new organ, built at Battleboro V.T., U.S.A. by the Estey Organ Co. and dated 8th November1897, replaced the minstrels and the original minstrel gallery was removed.  The organ was until recently pedaled but is now powered by electricity.

The seating was replaced in the 1980’s and bought from Morvil Church, when it closed, by Rev. George Pendleton.

There are two plaques in thenorth aisle, one dedicated to Caesar Mathias who lived at Little Milford and ran the coalmines, the other to his little son who was killed when he fell from his pony on the lawn.

 

 

The oldest tombstone in the graveyard, which is in front of you as you stand at the porch of the church, reads:

In memory of Joseph Williams,

a brave and honest huntsman,

who died suddenly at Pill earth after a terrible chase.

October 26th 1786 aged 32 years.

 

 

 

A story is told about a fox which was observed by the Rector, during a hunt to enter the churchyard and disappear amongst the branches which were spreading far out from the old Yew tree in the corner.  When the hounds left the area the fox reappeared and went on its way.  When the Rector went to see where it had hidden he found the huntsman’s partly buried tombstone which the fox had used to jump into the tree.

Over the years the burial ground slipped and buried the church to the eaves.

It is thought that many of the old tombstones had been removed long before the renovations and may have been used for gateposts, hearths etc. in the locality.

The burial ground was closed in 1896 when the new cemetery was opened on the main road.  There are obviously no relatives left to tend the graves and keeping the sloping burial area tidy is a great drain on the churches resources.

The rectory was built in 1906 and sold as a private house (now Black Friars) in 1964 when the parishes were split up.  Freystrop, originally with Llangwm, then Haroldston St. Issell’s, was put with Rosemarket for a few years and finally with Llangwm in 1978.  Johnston was added in 1997.

Holy Communion is held every Sunday at  11.30a.m. Rev. Jane is our Rector.

Special services are held at other times and are advertised on the church notice board in the car park.

Some church records can be accessed at the County Records Office in Haverfordwest. Telephone 01437 763707

We hope you enjoy our beautiful church.