St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
Encyclopedia
St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy is a medieval parish church
in the north-west of Anglesey
, north Wales. The date of foundation of the church, which is in the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
, is unknown, but the oldest parts date from the 11th or 12th century. It has twice been enlarged: in the 15th century, when the chancel
was rebuilt, and in the 16th century, when a chapel was added to the south of the chancel, separated by three arches. The tower at the west end is from the 17th century. A south porch of unknown date has been converted into a vestry, and the church is now entered through the tower.
St Mary's is a Grade I listed building, a national designation given to buildings of "exceptional, usually national, interest", in particular because it is regarded as "a fine rural parish church, incorporating significant early Medieval fabric". Writers in the 19th century commented on the "lofty square tower", the "very good" east window, and the "many elegant monuments"; the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones
called St Mary's "one of the best specimens of an old parish church in the island". In the 21st century, one writer has noted the "impressive lychgate" and a guide to the buildings of the region calls it "the most important church in north west Anglesey".
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
, one of nine in a combined parish, although as of November 2011 there has not been an incumbent priest since September 2009. People associated with the church include James Williams
, a 19th-century rector
who was awarded a gold medal for his efforts to save lives at sea, and his great-grandson, the artist Sir Kyffin Williams
. Both are buried in the churchyard.
for the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
in the north-west of Anglesey
, north Wales. It is set in a churchyard at the side of a minor road, in the south-east of the village. The area is near the coast, about 8 miles (13 km) from the port town of Holyhead
. Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy takes its name in part from the church: the Welsh word originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "‑fair" is a modified form of the saint's name (Mair being Welsh for "Mary"). The parish’s coastal position is reflected in its full name, which means "St Mary's in the promontory", or "St Mary in the angle of the waters".
It is uncertain when the first church was constructed on the site. There was a church in Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy before 1254, mentioned in the Norwich Taxation of that year. The oldest parts of the present structure are the nave
walls and the arch between the nave and the chancel
(to the east of the nave); these date from the 11th or 12th century. In the 15th century, the chancel was reconstructed and enlarged; in the following century, a chapel was added to the south of the chancel, separated by an arcade
of three arches. In her 1833 history of Anglesey, Angharad Llwyd
said that the south chapel "belongs exclusively" to one of the local landed estates, and the chancel belonged to another.
A tower was added at the west end in the 17th century, perhaps in 1660 according to a 2009 guide to the buildings of the region. At some stage, a porch was added to the south-west corner of the nave, but it has "no datable features". In the middle of the 19th century the porch entrance was blocked off and replaced by a window, and since then access to the church has been through a door on the west side of the tower. Some restoration work was carried out in 1847 by the Sheffield
-based architects Weightman and Hadfield
. Their plans included a proposal to add a chapel to the north side, but this did not happen. Further work was undertaken in 1860, and some repairs were carried out in the chancel and south chapel in the 1930s under the architect and historian Harold Hughes.
St Mary's is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
. It is one of nine churches in the combined benefice
of Bodedern with Llanfaethlu. It is within the deanery
of Llifion and Talybolion, the archdeaconry of Bangor
and the Diocese of Bangor. As of November 2011, there is no incumbent priest at the church, and there has not been one since September 2009.
James Williams
, rector
of St Mary's from 1821 to 1872, helped to establish the Anglesey Association for the Preservation of Lives from Shipwreck in 1828, in the wake of a storm that caused a boat to sink with 140 deaths. He was awarded a gold medal by the Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (later renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
) in 1835, for his efforts in the rescue of a boat during a gale. Angharad Llwyd, writing when Williams was at St Mary's, noted that "this benevolent gentleman, aided by his lady, ever alert in the cause of humanity, are generally among the first on the shore, in case of accident, well supplied with restoratives, and other necessaries, to comfort and protect the suffering mariners." The artist Sir Kyffin Williams
(1918–2006) was a great-grandson of James and his wife Frances. At his request, a memorial to them was put up on the south wall of the chapel. James, Frances and Kyffin are buried in the churchyard.
church, built using rubble masonry
dressed with freestone and displaying Perpendicular details. The roof is made of slate with stone coping
s. Internally, the timbers of the roofs of the nave, chancel and chapel are exposed. The beams running the length of the nave are decorated at intervals by painted plaster shield designs. The chancel roof is from the late 15th century, and the chapel roof is from the early part of the following century.
called Evan Thomas (died 1814), erected by Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
; another, to Emma Viscountess Bulkeley Williams, is made from ornately decorated marble.
The three arches between the chancel and chapel rest on octagonal columns. One of the arches has inscribed upon it, in early 16th-century lettering, SCA MARIA ORA PRO ME DAVID A JACO ("Saint Mary pray for me David ap Iago"); another has a stone with a roughly carved face. There was once a rood screen
across the chancel, as shown by markings on the north wall and on the westernmost of the arches. It was still in position in 1867, when one visitor mentioned it in his notes on the church. Panelling has been fixed to the east and south walls of the sanctuary in the chapel as a reredos
. The chapel measures 32 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 6 inches (9.9 by 4.4 m).
The font is at the rear of the nave on the north side. It is octagonal on the outside, with a circular bowl inside. A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded: a large silver chalice
, inscribed with the donor's name and the year 1713; a plain silver paten
, dated 1724–25; and a pewter flagon, from about 1710.
s) with flat tops and is decorated with stone tracery
. A survey of the church in 1937 by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire noted the window’s "crude workmanship and design." The window on the north nave wall has three lights with rounded tops. It too has been dated to the 14th century, but other sources say that it is from the 16th century. A 2009 guide to buildings of north-west Wales says that the window is "typically 16th-century".
The 15th-century window at the east end of the chancel has three lights topped with cinquefoils (a pattern of five joined circles). The lights are decorated with tracery, and set in a pointed arch frame with a hood mould. Stained glass from 1850 depicts (from north to south) Christ with children, Christ at a table, and the cross. The north window in the chancel is a 19th-century copy of the north nave window. There are two windows in the chapel, each with three lights; one in the east wall from the 16th century set in an arch with a hood mould, the other in the south wall set in a flat-headed frame.
es and the door on the west side is set in a pointed arch frame with a hood mould
. The buttresses and door were added to the tower after it was built; the 1937 Royal Commission survey described them as "modern". There are two stages (levels) to the tower; the tall upper stage is slightly narrower than the base, which measures 8 feet 6 inches by 8 feet 9 inches (26 by 2.7 m). The tower has simple rectangular openings in the north, east and south walls. There is a 17th-century bell in the west wall of the tower in a plain arch opening; the top of the wall is crenellated. Behind the parapet at the top of the tower, there is a short spire in the shape of a pyramid, made from wood and covered in slates.
The south porch has been described as "unusually long"; it measures 11 feet 6 inches by 8 feet 9 inches (3.5 by 2.7 m) and has been used as a vestry since the external doorway was blocked off and converted into a window. The 14th-century doorway from the nave into the vestry has a pointed head in a square frame, and was described in the 1937 survey as having an "unusual design". The porch roof may be from the late medieval period.
(the Welsh Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes the "good late Medieval additions, including a fine 16th-century arcaded chapel”, and says that St Mary's is of "special interest" because of its early date, "and for the quality of its later detail".
Writing in 1833, before the restoration of 1847, Angharad Llwyd described the church as "a spacious ancient structure, partly in the Norman style, with a lofty square tower, of rude architecture". She noted the "massive circular pillars and arches" in the chancel, and the "peculiar good taste" of the architecture of the recently rebuilt rectory. The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis remarked upon the "many elegant monuments" in the church.
Writing in 1862, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones
said that it was "one of the largest churches in this division of Anglesey" He said that it had recently been "judiciously repaired and restored" by James Williams and was "now one of the best specimens of an old parish church in the island", adding that the east window was "good in detail and in execution".
The Welsh politician and church historian Sir Stephen Glynne
visited the church in 1867. He said that the east window was "a very good Perpendicular one of three lights, early in the style." He described the churchyard as "secluded, and shaded by fine trees" and the tower as "rude and plain", noting that the "open bell arch" on the west side was comparable to the one at St Mary's Church, Llanerchymedd.
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey describes the "fairly large church" as standing in a "quiet wooded location". It also comments upon the "impressive lychgate" at the entrance to the churchyard and the "squat pyramidal structure" on top of the tower. A 2009 guide to the buildings of the former county
of Gwynedd
calls St Mary's "the most important church of north-west Anglesey" and says that it has "an unusual plan".
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the north-west 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. The date of foundation of the church, which is in the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales....
, is unknown, but the oldest parts date from the 11th or 12th century. It has twice been enlarged: in the 15th century, when the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was rebuilt, and in the 16th century, when a chapel was added to the south of the chancel, separated by three arches. The tower at the west end is from the 17th century. A south porch of unknown date has been converted into a vestry, and the church is now entered through the tower.
St Mary's is a Grade I listed building, a national designation given to buildings of "exceptional, usually national, interest", in particular because it is regarded as "a fine rural parish church, incorporating significant early Medieval fabric". Writers in the 19th century commented on the "lofty square tower", the "very good" east window, and the "many elegant monuments"; 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...
called St Mary's "one of the best specimens of an old parish church in the island". In the 21st century, one writer has noted the "impressive lychgate" and a guide to the buildings of the region calls it "the most important church in north west Anglesey".
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 nine in a combined parish, although as of November 2011 there has not been an incumbent priest since September 2009. People associated with the church include James Williams
James Williams (cleric)
-Life:James Williams was the son of John Williams, the rector of Llanddeusant church, St Caffo's Church, Llangaffo, and St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy . John Williams was the younger brother of Thomas Williams, the Welsh copper industrialist...
, a 19th-century rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
who was awarded a gold medal for his efforts to save lives at sea, and his great-grandson, the artist Sir Kyffin Williams
Kyffin Williams
Sir John "Kyffin" Williams, KBE, RA was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll on the Island of Anglesey...
. Both are buried in the churchyard.
History and location
St Mary's Church is the parish churchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
for the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales....
in the north-west 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 in a churchyard at the side of a minor road, in the south-east of the village. The area is near the coast, about 8 miles (13 km) from the port town of Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
. Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy takes its name in part from the church: the Welsh word originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "‑fair" is a modified form of the saint's name (Mair being Welsh for "Mary"). The parish’s coastal position is reflected in its full name, which means "St Mary's in the promontory", or "St Mary in the angle of the waters".
It is uncertain when the first church was constructed on the site. There was a church in Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy before 1254, mentioned in the Norwich Taxation of that year. The oldest parts of the present structure are 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...
walls and the arch between the nave and the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
(to the east of the nave); these date from the 11th or 12th century. In the 15th century, the chancel was reconstructed and enlarged; in the following century, a chapel was added to the south of the chancel, separated 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 three arches. In her 1833 history of Anglesey, Angharad Llwyd
Angharad Llwyd
Angharad Llwyd was a Welsh antiquary and a prizewinner at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.She was born at Caerwys in Flintshire, the daughter of Rev. John Lloyd, himself a noted antiquary. Her essay entitled Catalogue of Welsh Manuscripts, etc. in North Wales won a prize at the Welshpool...
said that the south chapel "belongs exclusively" to one of the local landed estates, and the chancel belonged to another.
A tower was added at the west end in the 17th century, perhaps in 1660 according to a 2009 guide to the buildings of the region. At some stage, a porch was added to the south-west corner of the nave, but it has "no datable features". In the middle of the 19th century the porch entrance was blocked off and replaced by a window, and since then access to the church has been through a door on the west side of the tower. Some restoration work was carried out in 1847 by the Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
-based architects Weightman and Hadfield
Matthew Ellison Hadfield
Matthew Ellison Hadfield was an English architect of the Victorian Gothic revival. He is chiefly known for his work on Roman Catholic churches, including the cathedral churches of Salford and Sheffield.-Training:...
. Their plans included a proposal to add a chapel to the north side, but this did not happen. Further work was undertaken in 1860, and some repairs were carried out in the chancel and south chapel in the 1930s under the architect and historian Harold Hughes.
St Mary's 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...
. It is one of nine 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 Bodedern with Llanfaethlu. 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 Llifion and Talybolion, 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 November 2011, there is no incumbent priest at the church, and there has not been one since September 2009.
James Williams
James Williams (cleric)
-Life:James Williams was the son of John Williams, the rector of Llanddeusant church, St Caffo's Church, Llangaffo, and St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy . John Williams was the younger brother of Thomas Williams, the Welsh copper industrialist...
, rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of St Mary's from 1821 to 1872, helped to establish the Anglesey Association for the Preservation of Lives from Shipwreck in 1828, in the wake of a storm that caused a boat to sink with 140 deaths. He was awarded a gold medal by the Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (later renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
) in 1835, for his efforts in the rescue of a boat during a gale. Angharad Llwyd, writing when Williams was at St Mary's, noted that "this benevolent gentleman, aided by his lady, ever alert in the cause of humanity, are generally among the first on the shore, in case of accident, well supplied with restoratives, and other necessaries, to comfort and protect the suffering mariners." The artist Sir Kyffin Williams
Kyffin Williams
Sir John "Kyffin" Williams, KBE, RA was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll on the Island of Anglesey...
(1918–2006) was a great-grandson of James and his wife Frances. At his request, a memorial to them was put up on the south wall of the chapel. James, Frances and Kyffin are buried in the churchyard.
Structure
St Mary's is a medievalMedieval architecture
Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of architecture common in Medieval Europe.-Characteristics:-Religious architecture:...
church, built using rubble masonry
Rubble 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 freestone and displaying Perpendicular details. The roof is made of slate with stone coping
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....
s. Internally, the timbers of the roofs of the nave, chancel and chapel are exposed. The beams running the length of the nave are decorated at intervals by painted plaster shield designs. The chancel roof is from the late 15th century, and the chapel roof is from the early part of the following century.
Interior
The church is entered through the door at the west side of the tower, with modern double doors between the tower and the nave set into a plain square doorway dating from the 17th or 18th century. The nave is 27 feet 9 inches by 13 feet 8 inches (8.5 by 4.2 m). Between the nave and the chancel there is a plain round arch, from the 11th or 12th century, a step up, and a rail. At the east end of the chancel, there is a further step up from the chapel into the sanctuary, which has some 18th-century gravestones set into it. The late 15th-century chancel, which measures 32 feet 6 inches by 14 feet (9.9 by 4.3 m), has some memorials from the 18th and early 19th centuries. One is to a bonesetterBonesetter
A bonesetter is a practitioner of joint manipulation. Before the advent of chiropractors, osteopaths, and physical therapists, bonesetters were the main providers of this type of treatment. Bonesetters would also reduce joint dislocations and 're-set' bone fractures.The original spinal adjustment...
called Evan Thomas (died 1814), erected by Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
Thomas James Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley, later Warren-Bulkeley, was an English aristocrat and politician.-Life:...
; another, to Emma Viscountess Bulkeley Williams, is made from ornately decorated marble.
The three arches between the chancel and chapel rest on octagonal columns. One of the arches has inscribed upon it, in early 16th-century lettering, SCA MARIA ORA PRO ME DAVID A JACO ("Saint Mary pray for me David ap Iago"); another has a stone with a roughly carved face. There was once a rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
across the chancel, as shown by markings on the north wall and on the westernmost of the arches. It was still in position in 1867, when one visitor mentioned it in his notes on the church. Panelling has been fixed to the east and south walls of the sanctuary in the chapel 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 chapel measures 32 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 6 inches (9.9 by 4.4 m).
The font is at the rear of the nave on the north side. It is octagonal on the outside, with a circular bowl inside. A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded: a large 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...
, inscribed with the donor's name and the year 1713; a plain 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....
, dated 1724–25; and a pewter flagon, from about 1710.
Windows
The nave has two windows. The south window, to the east of the vestry, is from the 14th century. It has two lights (sections of window separated by mullionMullion
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) with flat tops and is decorated with stone 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:...
. A survey of the church in 1937 by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire noted the window’s "crude workmanship and design." The window on the north nave wall has three lights with rounded tops. It too has been dated to the 14th century, but other sources say that it is from the 16th century. A 2009 guide to buildings of north-west Wales says that the window is "typically 16th-century".
The 15th-century window at the east end of the chancel has three lights topped with cinquefoils (a pattern of five joined circles). The lights are decorated with tracery, and set in a pointed arch frame with a hood mould. Stained glass from 1850 depicts (from north to south) Christ with children, Christ at a table, and the cross. The north window in the chancel is a 19th-century copy of the north nave window. There are two windows in the chapel, each with three lights; one in the east wall from the 16th century set in an arch with a hood mould, the other in the south wall set in a flat-headed frame.
Tower and porch
The tower has external buttressButtress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es and the door on the west side is set in a pointed arch frame with a hood mould
Hood mould
In architecture, a hood mould, also called a label mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater...
. The buttresses and door were added to the tower after it was built; the 1937 Royal Commission survey described them as "modern". There are two stages (levels) to the tower; the tall upper stage is slightly narrower than the base, which measures 8 feet 6 inches by 8 feet 9 inches (26 by 2.7 m). The tower has simple rectangular openings in the north, east and south walls. There is a 17th-century bell in the west wall of the tower in a plain arch opening; the top of the wall is crenellated. Behind the parapet at the top of the tower, there is a short spire in the shape of a pyramid, made from wood and covered in slates.
The south porch has been described as "unusually long"; it measures 11 feet 6 inches by 8 feet 9 inches (3.5 by 2.7 m) and has been used as a vestry since the external doorway was blocked off and converted into a window. The 14th-century doorway from the nave into the vestry has a pointed head in a square frame, and was described in the 1937 survey as having an "unusual design". The porch roof may be from the late medieval period.
Assessment
St Mary's has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade I listed building – the highest grade of listing, designating " exceptional, usually national, interest"; fewer than 2 per cent of the listed buildings in Wales are in this category. It was given this status on 12 May 1970, as "a fine rural parish church, incorporating significant early Medieval fabric, including a 12th-century chancel arch". CadwCadw
-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 and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes the "good late Medieval additions, including a fine 16th-century arcaded chapel”, and says that St Mary's is of "special interest" because of its early date, "and for the quality of its later detail".
Writing in 1833, before the restoration of 1847, Angharad Llwyd described the church as "a spacious ancient structure, partly in the Norman style, with a lofty square tower, of rude architecture". She noted the "massive circular pillars and arches" in the chancel, and the "peculiar good taste" of the architecture of the recently rebuilt rectory. The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis remarked upon the "many elegant monuments" in the church.
Writing in 1862, 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 it was "one of the largest churches in this division of Anglesey" He said that it had recently been "judiciously repaired and restored" by James Williams and was "now one of the best specimens of an old parish church in the island", adding that the east window was "good in detail and in execution".
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 1867. He said that the east window was "a very good Perpendicular one of three lights, early in the style." He described the churchyard as "secluded, and shaded by fine trees" and the tower as "rude and plain", noting that the "open bell arch" on the west side was comparable to the one at St Mary's Church, Llanerchymedd.
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey describes the "fairly large church" as standing in a "quiet wooded location". It also comments upon the "impressive lychgate" at the entrance to the churchyard and the "squat pyramidal structure" on top of the tower. A 2009 guide to the buildings of the former county
Preserved counties of Wales
The preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and Shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996.-Usage:The Local Government ...
of 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...
calls St Mary's "the most important church of north-west Anglesey" and says that it has "an unusual plan".
External links
- Photographs of the church
- Church architectural plans from the 19th century