St Edern's Church, Bodedern
Encyclopedia
St Edern's Church, Bodedern (sometimes referred to as St Ederyn's Church) is a medieval parish church
in the village of Bodedern
, in Anglesey
, north Wales. Although St Edern established a church in the area in the 6th century, the oldest parts of the present building date from the 14th century. Subsequent alterations include the addition of some windows in the 15th century, and a chancel
, transept
and porch in the 19th century, when the nave
walls were largely rebuilt. Stained glass was also inserted into the windows of the chancel and transept.
The church contains a 6th-century inscribed stone found near the village, a medieval font
, and some 17th-century decorated wooden panels from Jesus College, Oxford
, which was formerly connected with the church. St Edern's also owns three pieces of 19th-century church silverware, but a silver chalice
dated 1574 was lost some time during the 19th century. An 18th-century gallery at the west end rests on two oak crossbeams, one of which was previously used to support the rood loft.
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
, one of nine in a combined parish, but as of 2011 there has not been a vicar in the parish since September 2009. It is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because it is regarded as "a good example of a late medieval church, its character maintained in the late 19th-century restoration and rebuilding work, and retaining some of the medieval fabric and windows."
is a village in Anglesey
, Wales, about 5 miles (8 km) from the port town of Holyhead
. "Aeternus", known in Welsh as St Edern or sometimes in a variant spelling as "St Ederyn", is recorded in the Welsh genealogies as the son or grandson of Beli ap Rhun
(a 6th-century king of Gwynedd
). He appears as "Edern ap Nudd", one of the knights of King Arthur
, in the Mabinogion
(a collection of medieval Welsh prose tales). He established a church in the area in the 6th century, perhaps at Pen Eglwys Edern, a site about half a mile away (800 m) from the present building (eglwys means "church" and pen means "head" or "top"). Excavations there in the early 1970s revealed a cemetery from the 5th or 6th century. The village takes its name from the saint; the Welsh prefix means "dwelling of". The present building stands in a churchyard in the centre of Bodedern, on the north side of Church Street.
St Edern's is medieval in origin, with later additions and alterations. The oldest part is the nave
, which has been described as "essentially 14th-century", although it was rebuilt in 1871 during restoration work
under Henry Kennedy, architect of the Diocese of Bangor. It was one of many churches in Anglesey to be rebuilt or restored in the 19th century – few remained untouched – and Kennedy was responsible for much of the work carried out from the 1840s to the 1890s. The north wall was rebuilt above the tops of the windows, whereas only the bottom 2 to 3 ft (0.6096 to 0.9144 ) of the south wall was left unaltered. During this work, some of the nave windows inserted in the 15th century were repositioned, and a chancel
(at the east end), a porch (south-west corner) and a transept
or side chapel (north-east corner of the nave) were added. The "extensive" work cost about £1,000.
St Edern's is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
(the Anglican
church within Wales), as one of nine parish church
es in the combined benefice
of Bodedern with Llanfaethlu. The nine churches do not have an incumbent priest as of 2011, and have not had one since September 2009. The church is within the deanery
of Llifon and Talybolion, the archdeaconry of Bangor
, and the Diocese of Bangor.
The church was at one time an ecclesiastical dependency (or "daughter church") of St Cybi's, Holyhead. The right of patronage (the power to appoint the rector of Holyhead and its associated churches and the right to receive income from the church) was bequeathed to Jesus College, Oxford
in 1648. The college was the patron of the parish until 1920, when the Welsh Church Act 1914
came into force and the Church in Wales was disestablished. In 1849, the writer Samuel Lewis noted that the college and Queen Anne's Bounty
(a fund to support poor clergy) had recently each paid £400 for a new parsonage. He also recorded that the college received a rent charge
of £476 and 8 shillings each year from the parish instead of receiving the tithe
s. The college donated £200 towards the restoration work in 1871.
s and has a bellcote at the west end, with one bell (dating probably from the 17th century). There is one external buttress
to the south-east of the nave to help support the weight of the building, and there are crosses on the roof of the porch and at the east end of the nave and chancel roofs.
The church's entrance is an arched outer doorway in the porch, with a 15th-century pointed inner door set in a square frame described by one architectural guide as "boldly moulded". The roof of the porch reuses medieval wood. The nave, which has five bays, measures 59 feet 6 inches by 16 feet 9 inches (18.1 by 5.1 m). A gallery at the west end is supported by two oak crossbeams, one of which has the date of 1777 inscribed. According to one 19th-century writer, an old rood loft had previously rested on one of the beams supporting the gallery. The late-medieval internal roof timbers are exposed. The chancel, which is 17 by, is raised two steps above the nave and is separated from it by a Victorian pointed arch; there is also a Victorian arch between the nave and the north transept. The second of the three steps leading up from the chancel to the sanctuary at the east end is decorated with encaustic tile
s, with the Welsh words ("Wash my passion away with innocence at the altar of the Lord here").
s) to the east. The west wall has a repositioned 15th-century window. The chancel's east window is also 15th-century, with three lights headed by trefoil
s (a three-leaf pattern) and decorated with tracery
. It has 19th-century glass depicting the Ascension. The south side of the chancel and the north transept have 19th-century windows; the south chancel window has three lights with tracery headed by cinquefoils (a five-leaf pattern), with geometric patterns of glass.
The east and south chancel stained glass is in memory of the wife, son, and daughter of Hugh Wynne Jones, who died in the mid-19th century. He was the first priest to be vicar
of the parish (1868–1888); his predecessors had been curate
s, a lower position. He is depicted as Simeon
, who in Luke's Gospel receives Jesus and his family when they visit the Temple of Jerusalem after the birth of Jesus (an event celebrated as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
). The north transept has a three-light window to the north depicting St Edern, by Franz Mayer & Co.
There are also windows with two lights on the east and west sides of the transept, one of which has a window from 1951 by Celtic Studios.
of acanthus
leaf. The reredos
(the screen behind the altar) has further carved panelling, as does the upper section of the rectangular pulpit
, a reading desk, the communion rail and a table. The panels of the communion rail, set between wooden columns decorated with fruit, flowers and ribbons, are topped by a long balustrade, also decorated with acanthus leaf. The panels came from Jesus College, possibly from the college chapel which was renovated in 1864 by the architect G. E. Street, or from a disused gallery in the library; the balustrade previously ran along the tops of the chapel's pews. The college's archivist has described the chancel as containing "a startling assemblage" of panels, "patched together in jigsaw fashion" and "heavily varnished".
A stone dating from the 6th century and inscribed with the name "Ergagni" is kept in the transept. It was discovered during excavations of the Pen Eglwys Edern site in 1972. The font, which is medieval in date, is a plain octagonal bowl set on an octagonal column. Memorials include a "chunky Grecian memorial" to an officer of the Bengal Native Infantry
who died in 1835, a tablet in neoclassical style from 1839, and a slate tablet to an army officer who died in 1914. A survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1937 also noted an oak communion table and two oak chairs of simple design, both from the early 18th century, and various memorials inside and outside the church from the 17th and 18th centuries.
A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded three silver items: a plain chalice
dated 1887–88, a paten
dated 1803–04, and a flagon inscribed "Bodedern 1809". The author noted that church records from 1776 to 1831 included mention of another silver chalice, dated 1574, with other references to a flagon and a paten made from pewter, but these were no longer to be found.
(the Welsh Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes "some finely detailed fittings including the chancel screen, reredos, pulpit and reading desk with 17th-century carved panels, and also a late 18th-century gallery at the west end."
There are various descriptions of the church as it stood before Kennedy's 1871 rebuilding. In 1833, the Anglesey antiquarian Angharad Llwyd
described the church as "a small ancient structure, displaying some good architectural details". She also noted that it contained "some fine monuments" to members of local families. The Welsh politician and church historian Sir Stephen Glynne
visited the church in 1851. He said that the church was "little superior in size or architecture to the generality of Anglesey churches", but added that it was in "a neat and creditable state". He also commented upon the "neat and uniform" pews. In 1862, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones
wrote that the church was "of good work, and with the details of doors and windows carefully elaborated." He compared the east window to that at St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
(also on Anglesey), and noted that there was an ambry or recess in the east wall beneath the window.
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 village of Bodedern
Bodedern
Bodedern is a village in the west of Anglesey, North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL65. The population was 1,017 in 1991.The village has a fully bilingual secondary school, Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern and a football team, Bodedern Athletic F.C. who play in the Welsh Alliance League...
, in 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. Although St Edern established a church in the area in the 6th century, the oldest parts of the present building date from the 14th century. Subsequent alterations include the addition of some windows in the 15th century, and a 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...
, transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
and porch in the 19th century, when 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 were largely rebuilt. Stained glass was also inserted into the windows of the chancel and transept.
The church contains a 6th-century inscribed stone found near the village, a medieval font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
, and some 17th-century decorated wooden panels from Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
, which was formerly connected with the church. St Edern's also owns three pieces of 19th-century church silverware, but a 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 1574 was lost some time during the 19th century. An 18th-century gallery at the west end rests on two oak crossbeams, one of which was previously used to support the rood loft.
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, but as of 2011 there has not been a vicar in the parish since September 2009. It is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because it is regarded as "a good example of a late medieval church, its character maintained in the late 19th-century restoration and rebuilding work, and retaining some of the medieval fabric and windows."
History and location
BodedernBodedern
Bodedern is a village in the west of Anglesey, North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL65. The population was 1,017 in 1991.The village has a fully bilingual secondary school, Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern and a football team, Bodedern Athletic F.C. who play in the Welsh Alliance League...
is a village in 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...
, Wales, about 5 miles (8 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....
. "Aeternus", known in Welsh as St Edern or sometimes in a variant spelling as "St Ederyn", is recorded in the Welsh genealogies as the son or grandson of Beli ap Rhun
Beli ap Rhun
Beli ap Rhun was King of Gwynedd . Nothing is known of the person, and his name is known only from Welsh genealogies, which confirm that he had at least two sons. He succeeded his father Rhun ap Maelgwn as king, and was in turn succeeded by his son Iago...
(a 6th-century king 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...
). He appears as "Edern ap Nudd", one of the knights of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, in the Mabinogion
Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions...
(a collection of medieval Welsh prose tales). He established a church in the area in the 6th century, perhaps at Pen Eglwys Edern, a site about half a mile away (800 m) from the present building (eglwys means "church" and pen means "head" or "top"). Excavations there in the early 1970s revealed a cemetery from the 5th or 6th century. The village takes its name from the saint; the Welsh prefix means "dwelling of". The present building stands in a churchyard in the centre of Bodedern, on the north side of Church Street.
St Edern's is medieval in origin, with later additions and alterations. The oldest part is 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...
, which has been described as "essentially 14th-century", although it was rebuilt in 1871 during restoration work
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
under Henry Kennedy, architect of the Diocese of Bangor. It was one of many churches in Anglesey to be rebuilt or restored in the 19th century – few remained untouched – and Kennedy was responsible for much of the work carried out from the 1840s to the 1890s. The north wall was rebuilt above the tops of the windows, whereas only the bottom 2 to 3 ft (0.6096 to 0.9144 ) of the south wall was left unaltered. During this work, some of the nave windows inserted in the 15th century were repositioned, and a 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...
(at the east end), a porch (south-west corner) and a transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
or side chapel (north-east corner of the nave) were added. The "extensive" work cost about £1,000.
St Edern'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...
(the Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church within Wales), as one of nine parish church
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....
es 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. The nine churches do not have an incumbent priest as of 2011, and have not had one since September 2009. The church 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 Llifon 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.
The church was at one time an ecclesiastical dependency (or "daughter church") of St Cybi's, Holyhead. The right of patronage (the power to appoint the rector of Holyhead and its associated churches and the right to receive income from the church) was bequeathed to Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
in 1648. The college was the patron of the parish until 1920, when the Welsh Church Act 1914
Welsh Church Act 1914
The Welsh Church Act 1914 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom under which the Welsh part of the Church of England was separated and disestablished, leading to the creation of the Church in Wales...
came into force and the Church in Wales was disestablished. In 1849, the writer Samuel Lewis noted that the college and Queen Anne's Bounty
Queen Anne's Bounty
Queen Anne's Bounty was a fund established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England. The bounty was funded by the tax on the incomes of all Church of England clergy, which was paid to the Pope until the Reformation, and thereafter to the Crown.In 1890, the total...
(a fund to support poor clergy) had recently each paid £400 for a new parsonage. He also recorded that the college received a rent charge
Rent charge
A rentcharge is an annual sum paid by the owner of freehold land to a person who has no other legal interest in the land. Rentcharges have been in existence since the Statute of Quia Emptores in 1290...
of £476 and 8 shillings each year from the parish instead of receiving the tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s. The college donated £200 towards the restoration work in 1871.
Construction and layout
St Edern's is built in the Perpendicular style using local stone, with blocks of cut sandstone as the external face. The roof is made from slate with stone copingCoping (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 and has a bellcote at the west end, with one bell (dating probably from the 17th century). There is one external buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
to the south-east of the nave to help support the weight of the building, and there are crosses on the roof of the porch and at the east end of the nave and chancel roofs.
The church's entrance is an arched outer doorway in the porch, with a 15th-century pointed inner door set in a square frame described by one architectural guide as "boldly moulded". The roof of the porch reuses medieval wood. The nave, which has five bays, measures 59 feet 6 inches by 16 feet 9 inches (18.1 by 5.1 m). A gallery at the west end is supported by two oak crossbeams, one of which has the date of 1777 inscribed. According to one 19th-century writer, an old rood loft had previously rested on one of the beams supporting the gallery. The late-medieval internal roof timbers are exposed. The chancel, which is 17 by, is raised two steps above the nave and is separated from it by a Victorian pointed arch; there is also a Victorian arch between the nave and the north transept. The second of the three steps leading up from the chancel to the sanctuary at the east end 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, with the Welsh words ("Wash my passion away with innocence at the altar of the Lord here").
Windows
There are five windows on the south side of the nave; the one to the west of the porch is set in a pointed frame, and the others are in square frames. The middle and easternmost of the five date originally from the 15th century but have been repositioned; the other three are 19th-century. On the north side, there is a pointed doorway from the early 14th century, with a 19th-century window to the west and two repositioned 15th-century windows with 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) to the east. The west wall has a repositioned 15th-century window. The chancel's east window is also 15th-century, with three lights headed by trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
s (a three-leaf pattern) and 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:...
. It has 19th-century glass depicting the Ascension. The south side of the chancel and the north transept have 19th-century windows; the south chancel window has three lights with tracery headed by cinquefoils (a five-leaf pattern), with geometric patterns of glass.
The east and south chancel stained glass is in memory of the wife, son, and daughter of Hugh Wynne Jones, who died in the mid-19th century. He was the first priest to be vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of the parish (1868–1888); his predecessors had been curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
s, a lower position. He is depicted as Simeon
Simeon the Righteous
Simeon is the "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who, according to , met the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as they entered the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses on the 40th day from Jesus' birth.According to the Biblical account,...
, who in Luke's Gospel receives Jesus and his family when they visit the Temple of Jerusalem after the birth of Jesus (an event celebrated as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante...
). The north transept has a three-light window to the north depicting St Edern, by Franz Mayer & Co.
Franz Mayer & Co.
Franz Mayer & Co. is a famous German stained glass design and manufacturing company, based in Munich, Germany, that has been active throughout most of the world for over 150 years...
There are also windows with two lights on the east and west sides of the transept, one of which has a window from 1951 by Celtic Studios.
Panelwork and other fittings
St Edern's has several pieces of 17th-century panelwork, possibly of Dutch origin. There is a softwood panel screen between the nave and chancel, decorated with carved flowers and fruit, with a friezeFrieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
of acanthus
Acanthus (ornament)
The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration.-Architecture:In architecture, an ornament is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to...
leaf. The 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 screen behind the altar) has further carved panelling, as does the upper section of the rectangular pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, a reading desk, the communion rail and a table. The panels of the communion rail, set between wooden columns decorated with fruit, flowers and ribbons, are topped by a long balustrade, also decorated with acanthus leaf. The panels came from Jesus College, possibly from the college chapel which was renovated in 1864 by the architect G. E. Street, or from a disused gallery in the library; the balustrade previously ran along the tops of the chapel's pews. The college's archivist has described the chancel as containing "a startling assemblage" of panels, "patched together in jigsaw fashion" and "heavily varnished".
A stone dating from the 6th century and inscribed with the name "Ergagni" is kept in the transept. It was discovered during excavations of the Pen Eglwys Edern site in 1972. The font, which is medieval in date, is a plain octagonal bowl set on an octagonal column. Memorials include a "chunky Grecian memorial" to an officer of the Bengal Native Infantry
Bengal Native Infantry
The Bengal Native Infantry was part of the organisation of the East India Company's Bengal Army before the Indian rebellion of 1857.The infantry regiments underwent frequent changes of numbering during their period of existence...
who died in 1835, a tablet in neoclassical style from 1839, and a slate tablet to an army officer who died in 1914. A survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1937 also noted an oak communion table and two oak chairs of simple design, both from the early 18th century, and various memorials inside and outside the church from the 17th and 18th centuries.
A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded three silver items: a plain 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 1887–88, a 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 1803–04, and a flagon inscribed "Bodedern 1809". The author noted that church records from 1776 to 1831 included mention of another silver chalice, dated 1574, with other references to a flagon and a paten made from pewter, but these were no longer to be found.
Assessment
The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as 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 because it was regarded as "a good example of a late medieval church, its character maintained in the late 19th-century restoration and rebuilding work, and retaining some of the medieval fabric and windows". 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 "some finely detailed fittings including the chancel screen, reredos, pulpit and reading desk with 17th-century carved panels, and also a late 18th-century gallery at the west end."
There are various descriptions of the church as it stood before Kennedy's 1871 rebuilding. In 1833, the Anglesey antiquarian 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...
described the church as "a small ancient structure, displaying some good architectural details". She also noted that it contained "some fine monuments" to members of local families. 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 1851. He said that the church was "little superior in size or architecture to the generality of Anglesey churches", but added that it was in "a neat and creditable state". He also commented upon the "neat and uniform" pews. 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...
wrote that the church was "of good work, and with the details of doors and windows carefully elaborated." He compared the east window to that at St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
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...
(also on Anglesey), and noted that there was an ambry or recess in the east wall beneath the window.