St Beuno's Church, Aberffraw
Encyclopedia
St Beuno's Church, Aberffraw is a 12th-century parish church in Anglesey
, north Wales. A church was established in Aberffraw
in the 7th century by St Beuno
, who became the abbot of Clynnog Fawr
, Gwynedd. St Beuno's may have been used as a royal chapel during the early Middle Ages, as the princes of Gwynedd
had a court in Aberffraw. The oldest parts of the church date from the 12th century, although it was considerably enlarged in the 16th century when a second nave
was built alongside the existing structure, with the wall in between replaced by an arcade
of four arches. Restoration work in 1840 uncovered a 12th-century arch in the west wall, which may have been the original chancel arch or a doorway to a western tower that has been lost. The church also has a 13th-century font, some memorials from the 18th century, and two 18th-century copper collecting shovels.
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
, one of four in a combined parish. As of October 2011, the parish has been without an incumbent priest since July 2010. St Beuno's is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because it is a "rare Anglesey example of a double-naved church", with elements including the "unusually fine" 12th-century arch. A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that St Beuno's contains "some of the most significant Romanesque work on the island".
on the south-west coast of Anglesey
, north Wales. It is set within a large churchyard in the south-west of the village, on the south side of Church Street. The first church community was established in Aberffraw in the 7th century by St Beuno
(a Welsh holy man who became the abbot of Clynnog Fawr
, on the Llŷn Peninsula
in Gwynedd
). No part of a structure from that period survives; the oldest parts of the present building are the south wall of the nave
and some parts of the west wall, which are from the 12th century.
Some work was carried out in the late 13th or the 14th century, which is the period ascribed to the doorway on the south side. The church was enlarged in the 16th century when a second aisle was erected on the north side of the church, running the length of the building, with an arcade
of four arches added between the old and new parts of the building. Some restoration was undertaken in 1840, under the Chester
-based architect Thomas Jones. During this work, the rector Hugh Wynne Jones discovered a blocked 12th-century arch set into the west wall. It is thought by some writers to be the original chancel arch, but it has also been suggested that it was the entrance to a tower at the west end, which was said in 1833 to have once existed.
In 1868, the chancel and north aisle walls were rebuilt, a porch was added on the south side and a vestry added on the north side in place of one within the north aisle that Thomas Jones had created in 1840. The work was carried out by Henry Kennedy, the architect of the Diocese of Bangor.
Aberffraw became the principal court of the princes of Gwynedd
in the early Middle Ages, and St Beuno's may have been used as a royal chapel. It is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
, and is one of four churches in the combined benefice
of Trefdraeth with Aberffraw with Llangadwaladr with Cerrigceinwen. It is within the deanery
of Malltraeth, the archdeaconry of Bangor
and the Diocese of Bangor. As of October 2011, there has not been an incumbent priest at the church since July 2010.
dressed with sandstone
, with rendering
on the outside of the wall at the west end. Each wall has an external buttress
in the centre. The gabled roofs above the nave and north aisle are made of slate with stone copings
; there is a stone bellcote with two bells at the west end between the two gables. Both bells are dated 1896 and inscribed with the name "Charles Carr-Smethwick"; they are hung one above the other rather than side by side. There is a stone cross on top of the bellcote and each gable.
St Beuno's is entered through the porch in the south-west corner of the nave, which leads to an inner doorway set in a pointed arch. The 19th-century vestry is reached through a doorway in the north-west corner of the church. The nave, which measures 30 by, and the north aisle each have roofs of 6 bays with exposed rafters. The central arcade has four arches supported by octagonal piers. The two arches to the east are to the north side of the chancel, which is slightly smaller than the nave at 25 by; the other two are on the north side of the nave. The reset 12th-century arch in the west wall is decorated with chevrons and the heads of 25 rams and bulls. There is no structural division between the nave and the chancel, but the south sanctuary (at the east end of the chancel) is raised by two steps and is marked out by a communion rail. The sanctuary floor is decorated with encaustic tile
s, and panelling has been placed behind the altar as a reredos
. The sanctuary at the east end of the north aisle also has two steps leading up to it, but its floor is wooden. The altar in the north sanctuary is from the early part of the 20th century, and has a copper panel depicting the Last Supper.
The windows in the north and south walls are set in square frames, and are either two or three lights (sections of window separated by mullion
s) decorated with tracery
at the top; they date from Kennedy's work in 1868. The window at the eastern end of the south wall has three lights with tracery, set in a pointed arch frame with a plain hoodmould around it. The two windows at the west end have single lights topped with tracery; the windows at the east end have three lights, tracery and hoodmoulds. Five of the windows, including the main east window, have stained glass by the London artist E. R. Suffling; the east window in the north aisle, by C. A. Gibbs (1849) depicts the Good Samaritan.
The large octagonal font dates from the 13th century. The south side of the church has memorials from the 18th century to Henry Morris, Rector of Llanfachraeth
, and his sons Richard and Owen, and also some 19th-century memorials. A survey in 1937 by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire also noted a memorial to Hugh Wynne, who died in 1714: he was Chancellor of Bangor Cathedral
and rector of Aberffraw and Trefdraeth
. Two copper collecting shovels with wooden handles were given to St Beuno's in 1777 by Hugh Williams, the rector.
A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded a plain silver chalice
dated 1866–67, and a silver paten
with an inscription recording that it was a gift from Sir Arthur Owen in 1753. The author commented that the nearby church of St Cadwaladr, Llangadwaladr had an "exactly similar dish" from the same donor. He also noted that church records from 1793, 1801 and 1808 showed that a silver chalice belonging to the church had been lost, as had a pewter paten and flagon.
and St Cwyfan's, Llangwyfan). Cadw
(the Welsh Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales) notes that while St Beuno's is "largely of late Medieval character", it retains "significant elements of a much earlier building including an unusually fine 12th-century chancel arch." It also comments that restorations have respected the "predominantly 16th-century character" of the church.
Writing in 1846, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones
said that "the whole edifice has been lately repaired, new-roofed, and in various respects altered, so that some of its original features are now scarcely to be conjectured." He compared the arches in the arcade to those of two other churches in the vicinity, St Cwyfan's and St Morhaiarn's, and suggested they were both the work of the same architect. He also said that the doorway (as he described the arch in the west wall) was "richly ornamented", and commented that it had been "most judiciously uncovered" during the 1840 repairs.
The Welsh politician and church historian Sir Stephen Glynne
visited the church in September 1848. He said that parts of the church were "late and poor", the roofs were "poor and open" and the woodcarving was "inferior". In 1849, the writer Samuel Lewis described the church as an "ancient structure", and noted in particular its two "spacious parallel aisles".
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey comments that the church has a long history and "is an interesting one to view". A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that the church, which it describes as a "wide rectangle", contains "some of the most significant Romanesque work on the island". The memorial to Henry Morris is described as "beautifully lettered".
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
, north Wales. A church was established in Aberffraw
Aberffraw
Aberffraw is a small village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey , in Wales, by the west bank of the River Ffraw, at . The UK postcode begins LL63. Access by road is by way of the A4080 and the nearest rail station is Bodorgan. In the early Middle Ages Aberffraw was the...
in the 7th century by St Beuno
Beuno
Saint Beuno was a 7th-century Welsh holy man and Abbot of Clynnog Fawr in Gwynedd, on the Llŷn peninsula.-Life:Beuno was born in Powys, supposedly at Berriew, the grandson of a prince of that realm. After education and ordination in the monastery of Bangor-on-Dee in north-east Wales, he became an...
, who became the abbot of Clynnog Fawr
Clynnog Fawr
Clynnog Fawr, often simply called "Clynnog", is a village on the north coast of the Llŷn peninsula in Gwynedd, north-west Wales.Clynnog Fawr lies on the A499 road between Caernarfon and Pwllheli, at . It had a population of 130 in 1991...
, Gwynedd. St Beuno's may have been used as a royal chapel during the early Middle Ages, as the princes of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
had a court in Aberffraw. The oldest parts of the church date from the 12th century, although it was considerably enlarged in the 16th century when a second nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
was built alongside the existing structure, with the wall in between replaced by an arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
of four arches. Restoration work in 1840 uncovered a 12th-century arch in the west wall, which may have been the original chancel arch or a doorway to a western tower that has been lost. The church also has a 13th-century font, some memorials from the 18th century, and two 18th-century copper collecting shovels.
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
, one of four in a combined parish. As of October 2011, the parish has been without an incumbent priest since July 2010. St Beuno's is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because it is a "rare Anglesey example of a double-naved church", with elements including the "unusually fine" 12th-century arch. A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that St Beuno's contains "some of the most significant Romanesque work on the island".
History and location
St Beuno's Church is in AberffrawAberffraw
Aberffraw is a small village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey , in Wales, by the west bank of the River Ffraw, at . The UK postcode begins LL63. Access by road is by way of the A4080 and the nearest rail station is Bodorgan. In the early Middle Ages Aberffraw was the...
on the south-west coast of Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
, north Wales. It is set within a large churchyard in the south-west of the village, on the south side of Church Street. The first church community was established in Aberffraw in the 7th century by St Beuno
Beuno
Saint Beuno was a 7th-century Welsh holy man and Abbot of Clynnog Fawr in Gwynedd, on the Llŷn peninsula.-Life:Beuno was born in Powys, supposedly at Berriew, the grandson of a prince of that realm. After education and ordination in the monastery of Bangor-on-Dee in north-east Wales, he became an...
(a Welsh holy man who became the abbot of Clynnog Fawr
Clynnog Fawr
Clynnog Fawr, often simply called "Clynnog", is a village on the north coast of the Llŷn peninsula in Gwynedd, north-west Wales.Clynnog Fawr lies on the A499 road between Caernarfon and Pwllheli, at . It had a population of 130 in 1991...
, on the Llŷn Peninsula
Llŷn Peninsula
The Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root Laigin in Irish as the word Leinster...
in Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
). No part of a structure from that period survives; the oldest parts of the present building are the south wall of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and some parts of the west wall, which are from the 12th century.
Some work was carried out in the late 13th or the 14th century, which is the period ascribed to the doorway on the south side. The church was enlarged in the 16th century when a second aisle was erected on the north side of the church, running the length of the building, with an arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
of four arches added between the old and new parts of the building. Some restoration was undertaken in 1840, under the Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
-based architect Thomas Jones. During this work, the rector Hugh Wynne Jones discovered a blocked 12th-century arch set into the west wall. It is thought by some writers to be the original chancel arch, but it has also been suggested that it was the entrance to a tower at the west end, which was said in 1833 to have once existed.
In 1868, the chancel and north aisle walls were rebuilt, a porch was added on the south side and a vestry added on the north side in place of one within the north aisle that Thomas Jones had created in 1840. The work was carried out by Henry Kennedy, the architect of the Diocese of Bangor.
Aberffraw became the principal court of the princes of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
in the early Middle Ages, and St Beuno's may have been used as a royal chapel. It is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
, and is one of four churches in the combined benefice
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
of Trefdraeth with Aberffraw with Llangadwaladr with Cerrigceinwen. It is within the deanery
Deanery
A Deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a Dean.- Catholic usage :...
of Malltraeth, the archdeaconry of Bangor
Bangor, Gwynedd
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
and the Diocese of Bangor. As of October 2011, there has not been an incumbent priest at the church since July 2010.
Architecture and fittings
The church is built in Late Decorated style from rubble masonryRubble masonry
Rubble masonry is rough, unhewn building stone set in mortar, but not laid in regular courses. It may appear as the outer surface of a wall or may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or cut stone....
dressed with sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, with rendering
Cement render
Cement rendering is the application of a thin premixed surface ofsand, cement and lime plaster to brick, cement, stone or mud brick. It isoften textured, coloured or painted after application...
on the outside of the wall at the west end. Each wall has an external buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
in the centre. The gabled roofs above the nave and north aisle are made of slate with stone copings
Coping (architecture)
Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....
; there is a stone bellcote with two bells at the west end between the two gables. Both bells are dated 1896 and inscribed with the name "Charles Carr-Smethwick"; they are hung one above the other rather than side by side. There is a stone cross on top of the bellcote and each gable.
St Beuno's is entered through the porch in the south-west corner of the nave, which leads to an inner doorway set in a pointed arch. The 19th-century vestry is reached through a doorway in the north-west corner of the church. The nave, which measures 30 by, and the north aisle each have roofs of 6 bays with exposed rafters. The central arcade has four arches supported by octagonal piers. The two arches to the east are to the north side of the chancel, which is slightly smaller than the nave at 25 by; the other two are on the north side of the nave. The reset 12th-century arch in the west wall is decorated with chevrons and the heads of 25 rams and bulls. There is no structural division between the nave and the chancel, but the south sanctuary (at the east end of the chancel) is raised by two steps and is marked out by a communion rail. The sanctuary floor is decorated with encaustic tile
Encaustic tile
Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colors but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern is inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design remains as...
s, and panelling has been placed behind the altar as a reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
. The sanctuary at the east end of the north aisle also has two steps leading up to it, but its floor is wooden. The altar in the north sanctuary is from the early part of the 20th century, and has a copper panel depicting the Last Supper.
The windows in the north and south walls are set in square frames, and are either two or three lights (sections of window separated by mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
s) decorated with tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
at the top; they date from Kennedy's work in 1868. The window at the eastern end of the south wall has three lights with tracery, set in a pointed arch frame with a plain hoodmould around it. The two windows at the west end have single lights topped with tracery; the windows at the east end have three lights, tracery and hoodmoulds. Five of the windows, including the main east window, have stained glass by the London artist E. R. Suffling; the east window in the north aisle, by C. A. Gibbs (1849) depicts the Good Samaritan.
The large octagonal font dates from the 13th century. The south side of the church has memorials from the 18th century to Henry Morris, Rector of Llanfachraeth
Llanfachraeth
Llanfachraeth is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales....
, and his sons Richard and Owen, and also some 19th-century memorials. A survey in 1937 by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire also noted a memorial to Hugh Wynne, who died in 1714: he was Chancellor of Bangor Cathedral
Bangor Cathedral
Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol....
and rector of Aberffraw and Trefdraeth
St Beuno's Church, Trefdraeth
St Beuno's Church, Trefdraeth is a medieval parish church, in Anglesey, north Wales. Although one 19th-century historian stated that the first church on this location was established in 616, no part of any structure from that time survives; the oldest parts of the present building date from the...
. Two copper collecting shovels with wooden handles were given to St Beuno's in 1777 by Hugh Williams, the rector.
A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded a plain silver chalice
Chalice
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. This can also refer to;* Holy Chalice, the vessel which Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve the wine* Chalice , a type of smoking pipe...
dated 1866–67, and a silver paten
Paten
A paten, or diskos, is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic bread which is to be consecrated. It is generally used during the service itself, while the reserved hosts are stored in the Tabernacle in a ciborium....
with an inscription recording that it was a gift from Sir Arthur Owen in 1753. The author commented that the nearby church of St Cadwaladr, Llangadwaladr had an "exactly similar dish" from the same donor. He also noted that church records from 1793, 1801 and 1808 showed that a silver chalice belonging to the church had been lost, as had a pewter paten and flagon.
Assessment
The church is a Grade II* listed building – the second-highest of the three grades of listing, designating "particularly important buildings of more than special interest". It was given this status on 5 April 1971, and has been listed because it is "a rare Anglesey example of a double-naved church". Enlargement by adding a second nave was not as common in Anglesey as elsewhere in Wales: St Beuno's is one of three examples on the island (the others being the old church of St Nidan, LlanidanOld Church of St Nidan, Llanidan
The Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan is a medieval church, closed and partly in ruins, in the community of Llanidan, in Anglesey, north Wales. The first church on this site, close to the Menai Strait, was established in the 7th century by St Nidan, the confessor of the monastery at Penmon,...
and St Cwyfan's, Llangwyfan). Cadw
Cadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
(the Welsh Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales) notes that while St Beuno's is "largely of late Medieval character", it retains "significant elements of a much earlier building including an unusually fine 12th-century chancel arch." It also comments that restorations have respected the "predominantly 16th-century character" of the church.
Writing in 1846, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones
Harry Longueville Jones
-Life:Jones was the son of Edward Jones by Charlotte Elizabeth Stephens, was born in Piccadilly, London, in 1806. His father was second son of Captain Thomas Jones of Wrexham, who adopted the additional name of Longueville on succeeding to a portion of the Longueville estates in Shropshire. Jones...
said that "the whole edifice has been lately repaired, new-roofed, and in various respects altered, so that some of its original features are now scarcely to be conjectured." He compared the arches in the arcade to those of two other churches in the vicinity, St Cwyfan's and St Morhaiarn's, and suggested they were both the work of the same architect. He also said that the doorway (as he described the arch in the west wall) was "richly ornamented", and commented that it had been "most judiciously uncovered" during the 1840 repairs.
The Welsh politician and church historian Sir Stephen Glynne
Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet
Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 9th Baronet was a Welsh landowner and Conservative Party politician. He is principally remembered as an assiduous antiquary and student of British church architecture...
visited the church in September 1848. He said that parts of the church were "late and poor", the roofs were "poor and open" and the woodcarving was "inferior". In 1849, the writer Samuel Lewis described the church as an "ancient structure", and noted in particular its two "spacious parallel aisles".
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey comments that the church has a long history and "is an interesting one to view". A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that the church, which it describes as a "wide rectangle", contains "some of the most significant Romanesque work on the island". The memorial to Henry Morris is described as "beautifully lettered".