The site is of Manordeifi Old Church thought to have been occupied by a church since the 6th or 7th century, dedicated to Llawddog, a Celtic saint. From the evidence of an inscription on the bell, it is believed that it was later dedicated to Saint Lawrence. When the parish was created in the 12th century, the dedication was changed to Saint David. The nave and chancel of the present church date from the 13th or 14th century, and the porch was added at a later date. It was probably altered in the 18th century, and repaired between 1835 and 1844. It was abandoned as a parish church in 1899. The church was repaired in 1905 and again between 1948 and 1973.
The church is constructed in stone and has slate roofs. Its plan consists of a nave and a chancel, with a large west porch, a north vestry, and a single bellcote at the west end. The interior is plastered and whitewashed. The floor of the nave is paved with slates and there is a three-sided altar platform in the chancel. The church contains box pews, four of them being larger for the use of the more prominent local families; the two easternmost of these are furnished with fireplaces. Elsewhere are open-back benches. The pulpit is plain and is partly built into one of the pews. The font is square on a circular shaft and a square base. The font dates from the 13th century, while the bell is from the 15th century. In the church are a number of monuments, one of which commemorates Charles Colby who was killed by a tiger in India in 1852. Another is to the memory of the Welsh poet John Blackwell who died in 1840 and is buried in the churchyard.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.