ST CYSTENNIN’s Church, Mochdre is to open its doors to the public who will be able to see its collection of mediaeval stained glass panels.

The church will be open between 10.00am and 4.00pm on Saturday September 15, when in addition to the stained glass baptism, marriage and burial records dating from the 1600s will be on view.

But the prized exhibit will be fragments of five windows, dating back to the 15th century were found wrapped in blankets under the pulpit and have been restored by experts. Last year they were returned to the church and are now permanently on-show in a display cabinet.

The stained-glass panels depict St George slaying the dragon, St Nicholas, St Catherine, St Peter and the Resurrection of Christ. Church volunteers raised funds to have the restoration work carried out and a grant of £9,400 was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

St Cystennin’s Church Treasurer, Margaret Hodgkiss said: “These are priceless fragments of our history which would have had pride of place, telling the Christian story, throughout the medieval period. These windows pre-date the Church itself, which was re-built in 1843 but we know there’s been a site of Christian worship here for 17 centuries.”