Penallt Old Church dates from the late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century and its dedication is unknown. The main part of the building is medieval, although the base of the tower is earlier, and the porch is later, bearing a date of 1539. The church was restored in 1885-7 and again in 1951. It is constructed of Old Red Sandstone.
The interior has a barrel-shaped ceiling from the sixteenth century and a four-bay Perpendicular arcade. It also contains an elaborate coat of arms of Queen Anne, dating from 1707. The altar table was carved in 1916 by a war refugee from Belgium, who was reputed to be a master carver at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen.
References:The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.