The village of Runston dates from the Medieval period, and Cadw suggests a construction date for the chapel of the early 12th century. The chapel was dedicated to
Keyne, one of the daughters of
Brychan of
Brycheiniog, an
Early Middle Ages kingdom that lay to the north of the
Kingdom of Gwent. In the 18th century, the village went into
decline. By 1798, when
William Coxe arrived at the chapel, "the roof was fallen down, a large and broken font was lying on the floor, among the weeds and
elder trees".
Fred Hando, the Monmouthshire writer and illustrator, who visited about 150 years later, suggested that the decline was in part deliberate; "the men of Runston were a disreputable gang, smugglers, sheep-stealers and poachers. Unable otherwise to dislodge them, their landlords allowed the houses to fall into disrepair". Hando nevertheless admired the chapel ruins, "a hilltop symbol of holiness for over seven centuries".
Coflein describes the architectural style of the chapel as
Romanesque.
John Newman, the architectural historian, in his
Gwent/Monmouthshire Pevsner, notes that the chapel's unchanged dimensions give "an excellent idea of the neat symmetry" of the Romanesque style. The chapel consists of a
chancel and
nave with a small
bellcote at the western end. ==Notes==