Britain’s best-kept church

The parish church of St Ceinwr, Llangunnor, has won a prestigious national award

St Ceinwr's was one of twelve churches across the UK - and the only one in Wales - vying for the Naylor Award for Excellence in Church Maintenance, run by the National Churches Trust in partnership with the Pilgrim Trust. The awards were announced at a ceremony in London on Monday November 6th and St Ceinwr's came away with both the Welsh and the UK awards.

Candidates were asked: What is the best thing about being involved in church maintenance? The Llangunnor Church Maintenance Team replied: "We anticipate that, through active succession planning, the group will be active in some form in 10 years' time. The friendship within a group of wonderful people promoting a can-do attitude, whatever challenges appear, and helping others who may be going through a tough time for various reasons, has come into sharp focus with the days of Covid having such dreadful impact on peoples’ lives. It's good now to get back to having a good Welsh cwtch"

In presenting the award, Canon Ann Easter said: “The judges loved that this church is very well organised, their maintenance plan is spot on, and very detailed. The judges would like to congratulate them on their ability to make use of clearly generous volunteers and their time. They also loved the way the application is written and the positive way they talk about volunteers and how much they value them.”

Carmarthen LMA Dean, Canon Matthew Hill, said: “There is a dedicated and very able team of laity at Llangunnor. Their work is exemplary and this award is very well deserved. It's excellent that a church in this diocese should receive this UK wide attention and recognition.”