The tower with its handsome west doorway with two continuous rolls and roll moulded hood (see photograph below with sandbags) was defensive as most church towers were in those days; the Border area was constantly in danger of raiding.  The timber belfry is not an unusual feature of churches in this area.   But the Roll call of the Lords of Skenfrith (see left) provides an insight into the history of the church which is confirmed by many of the monuments:- the Skenfrith cope with its embroidered pomegranate motif, the remnant of the rood stair, the half-discernible wall-paintings, the Morgan tomb, the font dated or perhaps redated 1691 (The Restoration), the Arts and Crafts Reading desk made from parts of the rood screen, the list continues. 

St. Bridget's is Listed Grade 1

"as an important medieval church minimally restored

so as to retain historic character from the several phases of its construction, and with an exceptionally good interior."

From the mid C17th to mid C19, Skenfrith, though so close to the Picturesque Movement's attractions on the Wye and at Monmouth itself, seems to have been largely neglected until rail possibilities and road networks began to connect it to the outside world*; today it is, in planning terms, a hamlet - there are 20 houses in the village itself but, freely open, the church and the castle (owned by the National Trust and administered by CADW) attract large numbers of visitors throughout the year.

* when the village was featured on BBC's "Dr. Who" in Spring 2010, it was as 'the village which time forgot'.