The village of Llandow sits tucked away at the end of a dead end road, three miles south west of Cowbridge, past the World War II airfield for which it was once well known. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the church is typical of those in the Vale of Glamorgan - small and robust, with a distinctive saddle-back west tower.
Although some sources suggest the church may be of pre-conquest date, the consensus seems to be 12th Century, and the core of the church seems thoroughly Norman, judging from the round-arched south door, stout tub font, and the diminutive chancel arch, which has the merest hint of a pointed arch resting on simple imposts. Unusually, the east wall of the nave has a large, chamfered blind arch framing the chancel arch, two niches or squints, and corbels for a vanished rood screen.
It is not known why the blind arch was added, though this part of the nave certainly required significant buttressing in the late 18th century. The tiny chancel retains an original lancet on its south wall, a priest's door and two-light cusped east window. The tower was added in the 13th century and the square-headed south windows replaced in the 15th. The church was restored first in 1712 at the expense of the vicar, and again in 1889, which saw the present scissor-back roofs installed.
Furnishings are mostly Victorian, though there is a well-preserved Norman pillar piscina in the chancel, as well as a damaged and crudely-carved 14th century tombstone depicting a woman in robes and mediaeval headdress, beneath a heavily cusped arch. On the aisle floor in front of the chancel arch is a memorial with a bold incised cross, dated 1587 to one Edwardus; South Wales is unusual in the frequency of such post-reformation memorial crosses. In the graveyard are the bases of two mediaeval memorial crosses.
The church retains regular services as part of a combined benefice with Colwinston and Llysworney.
Holy Trinity, Heol-y-Nant, Llandow CF71 7NT
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