The Leaning Tower Of Cwmyoy

The leaning tower of Caerphilly Castle is quite amazing and listed in Wikipedia under 'list of leaning towers'. It is one of 11 in the UK. The only other in Wales is in Cwmyoy.

So with it pouring with rain, I persuaded Mrs BB there wasn't much else to do and we drove to see it, aided by sat nav. It's certainly off the beaten track in a place that time forgot. It was still raining when we got there and a battle to keep rain spots off the lens.

St Martin's church in the Monmouthshire hamlet of Cwmyoy (near Abergavenny, South Wales) has been called the crookedest church in Britain. This intriguing medieval building was erected on a sloping site that suffers from subsidence due to an ancient landslide, and over time the walls, the roofs, and noticeably, the tower, have gone wildly out of alignment. None of the walls stand straight, and none meet at right angles. The west end of the church slants one way, the east end slants the other way.
The tower slants at an alarming angle that makes the leaning tower of Pisa look like an advertisement for architectural perfection. Pisa is 4.7 degrees out of alignment, while the tower of St Martin's leans at 5.2 degrees (just over 6 feet out of true). Thankfully, buttresses added in the 1960s should limit any further tilting, with the help of metal rods inserted into the walls. If you stand under the tower you can see that the tower arch tilts dramatically to the north, while the chancel arch and east window tilt just as markedly to the south.

The Church dates primarily from the 13th-16 centuries. The original 13th century roof is still intact - goodness knows how, given the building's contortions over time.