St Nidan's Church, Llanidan
Encyclopedia
St Nidan's Church, Llanidan is a 19th-century parish church near the village of Brynsiencyn, 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. Built between 1839 and 1843, it replaced the Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan
Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan
The Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan is a medieval church, closed and partly in ruins, in the community of Llanidan, in Anglesey, north Wales. The first church on this site, close to the Menai Strait, was established in the 7th century by St Nidan, the confessor of the monastery at Penmon,...

, which needed significant repair, providing a place of Anglican worship nearer to the village than the old church. Some items were moved here from the old church, including the 13th-century font, two bells from the 14th and 15th century, and a reliquary thought to hold the remains of St Nidan. The tower at the west end has been described as "top heavy" and looking like "a water tower".

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 five in a group of parishes in the south of Anglesey. It is a Grade II listed building, a national designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them", in particular because it is regarded as "a distinctive example of pre-archaeological gothic revival work." The 19th-century 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 had been built in a "debased barbarous style, showing neither architectural science nor taste".

History and location

St Nidan's Church was built between 1839 and 1843, replacing its medieval predecessor. The architect was John Welch, who also designed St Ffinan's Church, Llanffinan
St Ffinan's Church, Llanffinan
St Ffinan's Church, Llanffinan is a small 19th-century parish church built in the Romanesque revival style, in Anglesey, north Wales. There has been a church in this area, even if not on this precise location, since at least 1254, and 19th-century writers state that St Ffinan established the first...

, in central Anglesey, which was built in 1841. St Nidan's was originally intended to have a spire on the west tower, but this was not added. 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 built in 1882, and a vestry and organ chamber added later. The battlements on the tower were added in 1933, replacing the original gabling. St Nidan's is set within a walled churchyard on the north of the A4080 road
A4080 road
The A4080 is a British A road which is located on the Island of Anglesey, Wales. The road begins at Menai Bridge and runs via Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Newborough and Rhosneigr to join the A55 about 9 miles from Holyhead. In all the road is about 17 miles long...

, in the south 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. The village of Brynsiencyn is about 500 metres (about one-third of a mile) to the south-west, and the old church of St Nidan is about 750 metres (about half a mile) to the south-east.

A new church was needed because the old church needed significant repair and also because the growth of Brynsiencyn meant that more people lived there than in Llanidan
Llanidan
Llanidan is a parish in south-west Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn. The parish is located along the Menai Strait, approximately 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon . The parish church is located near the A4080 highway, a little to the east of Brynsiencyn...

 itself. Like its predecessor, it is dedicated to Nidan
Nidan
Nidan was a Welsh priest in the 6th and 7th centuries who is commemorated as a saint. He was the confessor for the monastery headed by St Seiriol at Penmon and established a church at what is now known as Llanidan...

, a 7th-century Welsh saint who was the confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...

 of the monastery at Penmon, on the eastern tip of Anglesey.

St Nidan'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 five 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:...

 (parishes combined under one priest) of Newborough with Llanidan with Llangeinwen and Llanfair-yn-y-Cymwd. 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 Tindaethwy and Menai, 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, 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 E. Roberts.

Architecture and fittings

St Nidan's is built mainly from red 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...

 rubble, dressed with sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, with buttresses at the corners; the roof, which is made from slate, has 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 with a cross at the east end. The church is built in a cross-shape, in Early English style. There is a tower at the west end, which has battlements at the top along with a clock on the east and west sides, a belfry in the middle, and an entrance porch with an arched doorway at the bottom. There are two 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...

s leading from 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...

, one to the north and one to the south, 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. There are four "equal and bold" arches at the crossing
Crossing (architecture)
A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...

 where nave, transepts and chancel meet. The quadrant-shaped organ room and vestry are built into the eastern external angles of the chancel and transepts, one on each side of the church.

The gallery at the west end of the nave, supported by octagonal columns, is reached from the entrance porch; it has its pews set at an angle. A step leads up from the nave into the chancel, with a further two steps up from the chancel into the sanctuary. The floor of the chancel and the sanctuary are made from 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. The internal walls have been plastered. The nave has two bays, each lit with a lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...

; the transepts have groups of three large lancent windows, as does the east end of the building. The chancel window depicts "Faith, Hope and Charity", by Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne is the name of an English firm who produced stained glass windows from 1855 onwards.-History:Clement Heaton originally founded his own stained glass firm in 1852, joined by James Butler in 1855. Between 1859-61 they worked alongside Clayton and Bell and were joined by...

 (1877); it is dedicated to the 5th Lord Boston who died in 1897. One transept set of windows by Shrigley and Hunt
Shrigley and Hunt
Shrigley and Hunt was the name of an English firm which produced stained glass windows and art tiles.The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire....

 depicts the Ascension, in memory of Anna Maria Evans (died 1929, wife of the vicar Richard Evans).

A sandstone chest with a glass front was moved here from the old church; local tradition maintains that it holds the relics of St Nidan. It was discovered under the altar of the old church, and may date from the 16th century. The church also has pews made of pine, and a semi-octagonal pulpit with decorated panels.

A survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1937 noted which of the church's contents had come from the old church. The report listed the font, which has carved decoration and dates from the early 13th century; two bells, one from the first half of the 14th century (inscribed "+ E:D:A:N") and another from the latter part of the 15th century (inscribed "THOMAS AP MEREDITH"); and a carved oak chair from the time of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

.

In 1906, a survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese recorded that St Nidan's had 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...

 and alms dish. These were donated probably in 1701 and remade in 1871–72. It also had a silver paten
Paten
A paten, or diskos, is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic bread which is to be consecrated. It is generally used during the service itself, while the reserved hosts are stored in the Tabernacle in a ciborium....

 and two cruets with silver handles, all marked with the date 1871–72. Records from the 19th century indicated that two tankards (one silver, one pewter) and a silver chalice had been lost.

The churchyard contains the grave of Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet
Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet
Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet PC KC , was a British barrister and Liberal politician.Born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Ellis-Griffith was the son of Thomas Morris Griffith, a builder...

, who was MP for Anglesey for 25 years. The grave, by the church's north wall, has a bust of the politician wearing a wing collar. Other people buried here include the Presbyterian minister and theologian J. E. Hughes, who died in 1959.

Assessment

The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II listed building – the lowest of the three grades of listing, designating "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them". It was given this status on 30 January 1968, and has been listed as "a small early 19th-century church". Cadw
Cadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...

 (the Welsh 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) describes the church as "a distinctive example of pre-archaeological gothic revival work."

Writing in 1846, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones
Harry Longueville Jones
-Life:Jones was the son of Edward Jones by Charlotte Elizabeth Stephens, was born in Piccadilly, London, in 1806. His father was second son of Captain Thomas Jones of Wrexham, who adopted the additional name of Longueville on succeeding to a portion of the Longueville estates in Shropshire. Jones...

 condemned the treatment of the old church, which he said was "one of the largest and most important in the island of Anglesey", given its architecture, contents and traditions. He said that the new church had been built "in a debased barbarous style, showing neither architectural science nor taste, and without any example or analogy amongst the ecclesiastical edifices of any age, except the present." He also described it in 1863 as "that hideous pile ... a painfully impressive example of architectural bad taste." He said that the font was "one of the most interesting as a work of art (not later than the thirteenth century) extent in Anglesey", and although he did not consider that its design or execution matched that of the font at St Ceinwen's Church, Llangeinwen, it was "a highly valuable specimen of medieval taste." The reliquary, he added, was "unique, so far as Wales is concerned".

The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis said that the new church was "apparently of substantial construction, but is much inferior in style to the old building." The historian and clergyman Edmund Tyrrell Green
Edmund Tyrrell Green
Edmund Tyrell Green was a Church of England academic, curate and author. He graduated from St. John's College, Oxford with a...

, writing a survey of Anglesey church architecture and contents in 1929, described the church as "hideous", although he said that the font was "remarkable" for its "very graceful patterns in relief showing influence of Greek classical design."

A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey says that it is "of fairly unusual appearance, not at all typical of Anglesey churches in its stonework or the shape of the castelled tower". It comments that the organ and vestry were in "unusually-shaped rooms", and notes the "ornate stained glass" of the Ascension. A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that the church is "bolder" than John Welch's similarly designed church at Llandudno
Llandudno
Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...

. It describes the tower as "top-heavy with battlements... like a water tower", and adds that the seating is "crowded".

External links

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