St Gwenllwyfo's Church, Llanwenllwyfo
Encyclopedia
St Gwenllwyfo's Church, Llanwenllwyfo is a 19th-century parish church
near the village of Dulas
, in Anglesey
, north Wales. It was built between 1854 and 1856 to replace an earlier church
in the parish, also dedicated to St Gwenllwyfo
, which needed repair and had become too small for its congregation. The new church was built nearer to the Llys Dulas estate, whose owner contributed £936 towards the total cost of £1,417, rather than near the area where many of the parishioners lived. In 1876, Sir Arundell Neave (who had married into the family that owned Llys Dulas) donated 27 panels of 15th and 16th-century stained glass that had once belonged to a Flemish monastery.
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
, one of four in the combined parish of Amlwch
. It is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because of its "fine collection" of stained glass.
, in the north-east of Anglesey
, Wales. It was built in the mid-19th century at a cost of £1,417 to replace its medieval predecessor
, which was then abandoned. The old church, also dedicated to St Gwenllwyfo
(a 7th-century woman about whom nothing else is known) was in need of repair and its congregation was too large for the building. Although many in the congregation lived in Nebo
(in the north of the parish), it was decided to build the new church about two-thirds of a mile from its predecessor (about 1.1 km) to the south-west in the vicinity of the Llys Dulas estate, whose owners had long been connected with the church.
The largest donation towards the new parish church
(£936) came from Gertrude, the widow of William Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben
(died 1852), owner of Llys Dulas. Gertrude, whose husband had become rich from copper mining on Anglesey at Parys Mountain
, also rebuilt the main house of Llys Dulas in the mid-1850s; it was demolished in 1976 after becoming derelict. Her daughter and heiress Gwyn Gertrude Hughes laid the foundation stone on 14 September 1854, using a silver trowel and ebony mallet. A box placed underneath the stone contained a Bible, a prayer book, a document with details of the event and an example of every British coin minted in that year. Those present were addressed in Welsh by the clergyman James Williams
and in English by the curate of the parish, Morris Williams
(more commonly known by his bardic name
"Nicander"). The church (designed by Henry Kennedy, the architect for the Diocese of Bangor) opened in 1856.
Gwyn Gertrude Hughes married Sir Arundell Neave in 1871. He donated some 15th and 16th-century Flemish stained glass inherited from his father to the church in 1876. After Gwyn's death in 1916 she was buried in a vault under the chancel of the church, as her mother had been in 1871. Previous members of the family had been buried in the ancestral vault at St George's Church, Kinmel, but a family dispute from 1849 led to a new vault being required.
St Gwenllwyfo's is still used for worship by the Church in Wales
. It is one of four churches in the combined parish of Amlwch
, along with St Eleth's, Amlwch
, St Eilian's, Llaneilian, and St Tyfrodog, Llandyfrydog
. The parish is within the deanery
of Twrcelyn, the archdeaconry of Bangor
and the Diocese of Bangor. As of September 2011, the priest in charge
is H. V. Jones.
dressed with gritstone
, and has a slate
roof. There is a three-stage tower with buttresses at the base at the west end of the building, topped with a spire. The tower has one window in the west wall in the lowest stage, narrow windows on three sides in the middle stage, and pairs of windows topped with hoodmoulds around the tower in the section below the spire. The 18th-century bell comes from the old church.
St Gwenllwyfo's is entered through a porch on the south side near the west end; an internal doorway at the west end of the nave
leads into the vestry
in the tower. The nave has four bays (internal sections) and the chancel
, to the east of the nave, has two. The chancel is separated from the nave by a decorated arch and a step, which raises it above the level of the nave. Within the chancel, the sanctuary is raised by a further three steps and marked by a rail.
The window on the north side of the church has a trefoil
pattern at the top, and the hoodmould is decorated with faces. The south side of the building has a number of arched windows, singularly or in pairs, also with hoodmoulds. The arched east window has three lights (sections of window, separated by mullion
s) with trefoil patterns of tracery
at the top. The east wall has a blocked doorway on the south side.
, in the Flanders region of Belgium; much of the glass uses distinctive Flemish emblems. They had been purchased by his father Thomas from a Norwich-based German merchant, Hampp, who had trade links with Flanders. The 27 panels mainly date from around 1522, although the oldest glass is from the late 14th or early 15th century and there is some later glass from about 1600. Further pieces of glass were given by Neave to a church in Noak Hill
, Essex (near Dagnam Park, from which came the title of Neave's baronetcy
) and the houses of Dagnam Park and Llys Dulas. Other examples of the monastery's stained glass are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London, and the Burrell Collection
in Glasgow.
The east window has scenes from Christ's betrayal and crucifixion, the Adoration of the Magi and Christ's return from Egypt with his family. The top of the window uses glass fragments from a chapel commemorating Pope Adrian VI
; he was tutor to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
, whose head appears in the window, along with pictures of musical angels. Other windows in the nave and chancel contain saints or depictions of incidents in Christ's life (including one of Jesus wearing a straw hat after his resurrection, said to be "very rare").
and a plain silver flagon) were donated by Gwyn Gertrude Hughes in 1866. The church furniture (including the octagonal wooden pulpit and the choir stalls) dates from the 19th century, although the octagonal font was reused from the old church.
The church has a number of other memorials from the 19th and 20th centuries, commemorating members of the various families associated with Llys Dulas (Neave, Hughes and Dinorben). The nave has three funerary hatchment
s (black diamond-shaped boards displaying the deceased's coat of arms) for Lord Dinorben, his wife Gertrude, and Sir Arundel Neave. A large slate tablet on the west wall of the nave records how much Gertrude and others contributed to the cost of the church. A model of the church made from matchsticks is kept within a glass case in the chancel.
(the Welsh Assembly Government
body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes the church's "fine collection of 15th- and 16th-century Flemish stained glass panels", which it says is the "second largest such collection in the world", and the 17th-century brass plaque.
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey describes the church as "impressively large", and comments that the "steeply-pitched slate roof" gives the interior "a sense of space". It also notes the "considerable amounts" of stained glass, which it describes as "impressive". It commented that it "contains a wealth of interesting items which are worth seeing."
A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region describes the building as "a Victorian estate church with its needle spire rising over trees", which it says is "disproportionately tall", and adds that it was "one of Kennedy's better works". It says that the glass is "outstanding".
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....
near the village of Dulas
Dulas, Anglesey
Dulas or City Dulas is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales....
, 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. It was built between 1854 and 1856 to replace an earlier church
Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo
The Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo is a medieval ruined church near Dulas, in Anglesey, north Wales, perhaps built in the 15th century to replace another church from which only the 12th-century font survived. Dedicated to Gwenllwyfo, a 7th-century female saint about whom nothing else is...
in the parish, also dedicated to St Gwenllwyfo
Gwenllwyfo
Gwenllwyfo was a female Christian recognised as a saint. She is commemorated in the dedication of two churches near Dulas, Anglesey, in Wales: St Gwenllwyfo's Church, Llanwenllwyfo and its medieval predecessor, the Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo, which is now in ruins.Few details...
, which needed repair and had become too small for its congregation. The new church was built nearer to the Llys Dulas estate, whose owner contributed £936 towards the total cost of £1,417, rather than near the area where many of the parishioners lived. In 1876, Sir Arundell Neave (who had married into the family that owned Llys Dulas) donated 27 panels of 15th and 16th-century stained glass that had once belonged to a Flemish monastery.
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 the combined parish of Amlwch
Amlwch
Amlwch is the most northerly town in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. The town has no beach, but it has impressive coastal cliffs. Tourism is an important element of the local economy. At one time it...
. It is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because of its "fine collection" of stained glass.
History and location
St Gwenllwyfo's Church stands in a churchyard on a sloping site on the west side of a rural road, about 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) from the beach at DulasDulas, Anglesey
Dulas or City Dulas is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales....
, in the north-east 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...
, Wales. It was built in the mid-19th century at a cost of £1,417 to replace its medieval predecessor
Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo
The Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo is a medieval ruined church near Dulas, in Anglesey, north Wales, perhaps built in the 15th century to replace another church from which only the 12th-century font survived. Dedicated to Gwenllwyfo, a 7th-century female saint about whom nothing else is...
, which was then abandoned. The old church, also dedicated to St Gwenllwyfo
Gwenllwyfo
Gwenllwyfo was a female Christian recognised as a saint. She is commemorated in the dedication of two churches near Dulas, Anglesey, in Wales: St Gwenllwyfo's Church, Llanwenllwyfo and its medieval predecessor, the Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo, which is now in ruins.Few details...
(a 7th-century woman about whom nothing else is known) was in need of repair and its congregation was too large for the building. Although many in the congregation lived in Nebo
Nebo, Anglesey
-References:...
(in the north of the parish), it was decided to build the new church about two-thirds of a mile from its predecessor (about 1.1 km) to the south-west in the vicinity of the Llys Dulas estate, whose owners had long been connected with the church.
The largest donation towards the new 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....
(£936) came from Gertrude, the widow of William Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben
William Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben
William Lewis Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben , was a British copper mine owner, philanthropist and Whig politician....
(died 1852), owner of Llys Dulas. Gertrude, whose husband had become rich from copper mining on Anglesey at Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain – in the Welsh language Mynydd Parys – is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. It is the site of a large copper mine that was extensively exploited in the late 18th century.-History:...
, also rebuilt the main house of Llys Dulas in the mid-1850s; it was demolished in 1976 after becoming derelict. Her daughter and heiress Gwyn Gertrude Hughes laid the foundation stone on 14 September 1854, using a silver trowel and ebony mallet. A box placed underneath the stone contained a Bible, a prayer book, a document with details of the event and an example of every British coin minted in that year. Those present were addressed in Welsh by the clergyman 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...
and in English by the curate of the parish, Morris Williams
Morris Williams
Morris Williams , was a Welsh clergyman and writer, commonly known by his bardic name of Nicander so as to differentiate him from others of the same name....
(more commonly known by his bardic name
Bardic name
A bardic name is a pseudonym, used in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement....
"Nicander"). The church (designed by Henry Kennedy, the architect for the Diocese of Bangor) opened in 1856.
Gwyn Gertrude Hughes married Sir Arundell Neave in 1871. He donated some 15th and 16th-century Flemish stained glass inherited from his father to the church in 1876. After Gwyn's death in 1916 she was buried in a vault under the chancel of the church, as her mother had been in 1871. Previous members of the family had been buried in the ancestral vault at St George's Church, Kinmel, but a family dispute from 1849 led to a new vault being required.
St Gwenllwyfo'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 four churches in the combined parish of Amlwch
Amlwch
Amlwch is the most northerly town in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. The town has no beach, but it has impressive coastal cliffs. Tourism is an important element of the local economy. At one time it...
, along with St Eleth's, Amlwch
St Eleth's Church, Amlwch
St Eleth's Church, Amlwch is a parish church built in the Neo-classical style in 1800 in Amlwch, a town on the island of Anglesey in north Wales. It stands on the site of earlier buildings, with the first church here said to have been established by St Elaeth in the 6th century...
, St Eilian's, Llaneilian, and St Tyfrodog, Llandyfrydog
St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog
St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog is a small medieval church, in Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, north Wales. The date of establishment of a church on this site is unknown, but one 19th-century Anglesey historian says that it was about 450...
. The parish 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 Twrcelyn, 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 September 2011, the priest in charge
Priest in charge
A priest in charge or priest-in-charge is a priest in charge of a parish who does not receive the temporalities of the parish. He or she is not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, simply holds a licence rather than freehold and is not appointed by advowson.The appointment of priests in...
is H. V. Jones.
Structure
The church, designed in the Gothic revival style, is built 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 gritstone
Gritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
, and has a slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof. There is a three-stage tower with buttresses at the base at the west end of the building, topped with a spire. The tower has one window in the west wall in the lowest stage, narrow windows on three sides in the middle stage, and pairs of windows topped with hoodmoulds around the tower in the section below the spire. The 18th-century bell comes from the old church.
St Gwenllwyfo's is entered through a porch on the south side near the west end; an internal doorway at the west end 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...
leads into the vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
in the tower. The nave has four bays (internal sections) 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, has two. The chancel is separated from the nave by a decorated arch and a step, which raises it above the level of the nave. Within the chancel, the sanctuary is raised by a further three steps and marked by a rail.
The window on the north side of the church has a trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
pattern at the top, and the hoodmould is decorated with faces. The south side of the building has a number of arched windows, singularly or in pairs, also with hoodmoulds. The arched east window has 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) with trefoil patterns of 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. The east wall has a blocked doorway on the south side.
Stained glass
The stained glass panels donated by Neave came from a monastery in LeuvenLeuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, in the Flanders region of Belgium; much of the glass uses distinctive Flemish emblems. They had been purchased by his father Thomas from a Norwich-based German merchant, Hampp, who had trade links with Flanders. The 27 panels mainly date from around 1522, although the oldest glass is from the late 14th or early 15th century and there is some later glass from about 1600. Further pieces of glass were given by Neave to a church in Noak Hill
Noak Hill
Noak Hill is a village in the London Borough of Havering. It is in the far north east of the borough close to the Greater London boundary which is locally the M25 motorway, situated on hilly terrain. The village consists of various period homes, many of which are listed, a 19th century church and...
, Essex (near Dagnam Park, from which came the title of Neave's baronetcy
Neave Baronets
The Neave Baronetcy, of Dagnam Park in the County of Essex, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 13 May 1795 for Richard Neave, Governor of the Bank of England from 1783 to 1785. Lady Dorina Neave , wife of Sir Thomas , was the author of three books about Turkey...
) and the houses of Dagnam Park and Llys Dulas. Other examples of the monastery's stained glass are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in London, and the Burrell Collection
Burrell Collection
The Burrell Collection is an art collection in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated in Pollok Country Park on the south side of the city.-History:...
in Glasgow.
The east window has scenes from Christ's betrayal and crucifixion, the Adoration of the Magi and Christ's return from Egypt with his family. The top of the window uses glass fragments from a chapel commemorating Pope Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI , born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, served as Pope from 9 January 1522 until his death some 18 months later...
; he was tutor to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, whose head appears in the window, along with pictures of musical angels. Other windows in the nave and chancel contain saints or depictions of incidents in Christ's life (including one of Jesus wearing a straw hat after his resurrection, said to be "very rare").
Memorials and other fittings
A 1937 survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire noted a brass memorial plaque from 1609, erected by Richard Williams to his wife Marcelie Lloyd, daughter and co-heiress of David Lloyd of Llysdulas. The plaque, which was previously in the old church, bears three shields, one with the coat of arms of Williams, another with Marcelie Lloyd's arms, and the middle one with the two coats of arms combined. Below the shields, husband and wife are shown with their children (Anne, William and Griffith) kneeling in prayer on cushions. The survey also noted a plain silver cup, dated 1711–1712. Other items of communion plate (an inscribed silver chalice, a plain silver patenPaten
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....
and a plain silver flagon) were donated by Gwyn Gertrude Hughes in 1866. The church furniture (including the octagonal wooden pulpit and the choir stalls) dates from the 19th century, although the octagonal font was reused from the old church.
The church has a number of other memorials from the 19th and 20th centuries, commemorating members of the various families associated with Llys Dulas (Neave, Hughes and Dinorben). The nave has three funerary hatchment
Hatchment
A hatchment is a funeral demonstration of the lifetime "achievement" of the arms and any other honours displayed on a black lozenge-shaped frame which used to be suspended against the wall of a deceased person's house...
s (black diamond-shaped boards displaying the deceased's coat of arms) for Lord Dinorben, his wife Gertrude, and Sir Arundel Neave. A large slate tablet on the west wall of the nave records how much Gertrude and others contributed to the cost of the church. A model of the church made from matchsticks is kept within a glass case in the chancel.
Assessment
St Gwenllwyfo's 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 12 May 1970 and has been listed as "a mid 19th-century Gothic revival church closely associated with the Llys Dulas estate". 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 Assembly Government
Welsh Assembly Government
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...
body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes the church's "fine collection of 15th- and 16th-century Flemish stained glass panels", which it says is the "second largest such collection in the world", and the 17th-century brass plaque.
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey describes the church as "impressively large", and comments that the "steeply-pitched slate roof" gives the interior "a sense of space". It also notes the "considerable amounts" of stained glass, which it describes as "impressive". It commented that it "contains a wealth of interesting items which are worth seeing."
A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region describes the building as "a Victorian estate church with its needle spire rising over trees", which it says is "disproportionately tall", and adds that it was "one of Kennedy's better works". It says that the glass is "outstanding".