St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen |
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St Ceinwen's in 2006
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| OS grid reference | SH423736 |
| Location | Cerrigceinwen, Anglesey |
| Country | Wales, United Kingdom |
| Previous denomination | Church in Wales |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 7th century or earlier |
| Dedication | St Ceinwen |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Closed |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 30 January 1968 |
| Architect(s) | Henry Kennedy and Frederick Rogers |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Decorated |
| Completed | 1860 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | c. 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) |
| Nave width | c. 20 ft 8 in (6.3 m) |
| Floor area | c. 1,076 sq ft (100 m2) |
| Materials | Rubble masonry and slate |
St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen, is an old church building in the countryside of central Anglesey, north Wales. People have used this spot for worship since at least the 600s. The church building you see today was finished in 1860.
This church is special because its doorway uses parts of very old gravestones. One stone is from the 800s to 1000s, and another is from the 1100s. The church grounds also have a well, which people once believed could heal illnesses. Both the church and the well are named after St Ceinwen, an early Celtic female saint.
Today, the church is closed and no longer used for services by the Church in Wales. As of 2012, it was even for sale! It is a Grade II listed building. This means it's a special building that should be protected. It's important because it's a "simple country church" from the 1800s that uses older carved stones.
Contents
History of St Ceinwen's Church
St Ceinwen's Church is in a quiet, rural area in the middle of Anglesey, north Wales. It sits in a dip next to a road, close to the village of Cerrigceinwen. This is about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Llangefni, which is the main town in Anglesey.
When Was the Church Built?
No one is completely sure when the first church was built here. Some guides say people started worshipping here in the 600s. However, a writer from the 1800s named Samuel Lewis thought a church might have been founded as early as 450 AD.
The church building that was here before the current one was very old, from the Middle Ages. It had some repairs in 1839. The church you see now was built in 1860. The architects who designed it were Henry Kennedy and Frederick Rogers.
Who Was St Ceinwen?
The church is named after St Ceinwen. She is also known as Cain or Keyne in other parts of Wales and in Cornwall. In Welsh, 'Cain' means "fair" or "beautiful," and 'Ceinwen' means "Blessed Cain."
St Ceinwen was the daughter of King Brychan Brycheiniog. Her brother and sister, St Dwynwen and St Dyfnan, also have churches named after them in Anglesey.
St Ceinwen's Well
In the churchyard, there is a spring called "St Ceinwen's Well." A clergyman from the 1800s, Harry Longueville Jones, wrote that many people used to visit this spring. They believed it could cure various diseases.
The Church Today
As of 2012, the church was no longer used for worship. It was put up for sale for £65,000. Some of the land around the church was included in the sale. However, the graveyards in front and behind the church were not part of the sale.
What Does St Ceinwen's Church Look Like?
The church is built in a style called "Decorated" architecture. It has a main hall called a nave at the west end and a smaller area for the altar called a chancel at the east end.
Building Materials and Size
The church is made from rough stone called rubble masonry. It has smooth, cut stone (called freestone) for details. The roof is made of slate and has stone edges.
There is a small entrance room, or porch, on the south side of the nave. There's also a small room for the priest, called a vestry, on the north side of the chancel. The nave is about 39 feet 8 inches (12.10 meters) long and 20 feet 8 inches (6.30 meters) wide. The chancel is shorter and narrower. The total floor space inside the church is about 1,076 square feet (100 square meters). There is a large bell tower at the west end of the nave, which holds one bell.
Special Stone Carvings
The arched doorway in the porch is very interesting. It uses two old carved gravestones.
- One stone, from the 1100s, has a circle with a cross of petals at the top. It also has a decorated key design. This stone is used as the top part of the doorway, called the lintel.
- Another part of a gravestone, from the 800s to 1000s, has a cross inside a circle. It is placed to the right of the door.
Inside the church, three steps lead from the nave up to the chancel through a decorated arch. Two more steps lead from the chancel to the sanctuary, where the altar is. You can see the wooden beams of the roof inside.
Windows and Furnishings
The window in the east wall of the chancel is pointed. It has three sections, called lights, separated by stone bars called mullions. The top of these sections has a pattern of three overlapping circles, called trefoils. The windows in the nave also have pointed arches and one, two, or three lights with trefoils. These windows have colored glass, but not pictures like stained glass.
The round stone font, used for baptisms, is from the 1100s. It sits on a newer base. It has five decorated panels. Four of these panels have carvings of crosses and knots that weave together. The fifth panel is plain.
Other items inside the church are from the 1800s. These include an eight-sided pulpit with decorated panels. On the west wall of the nave, there is a stone memorial for a Reverend William Griffith, who died in 1752. The south wall has a war memorial for those who died in the First World War. The north wall has a stone remembering Morris Lloyd, a Royalist soldier killed in 1647.
In 1906, a survey of church items in the Bangor area found a special cup (chalice) and plate (paten) from 1823. It also noted that a pewter flagon, a type of jug, was lost. Church records showed it was owned by the church from 1739 to 1834.
The churchyard also contains a grave from World War II for a sergeant from the Royal Army Medical Corps. This grave is cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Why St Ceinwen's Church is Important
St Ceinwen's Church is recognized nationally and protected by law. It is a Grade II listed building. This is the lowest of three protection levels, but it still means the building is "of special interest" and should be preserved. It received this status on January 30, 1968. It is listed as "a simple rural church of the 19th century."
Cadw, the Welsh government group that protects Wales's historic buildings, also says the church is special. They note it's important because it "retains early carved stonework in the later fabric." This means it kept and reused very old carved stones when it was rebuilt.
Two writers from the 1800s described the old church.
- Angharad Llwyd, an expert on old things, said it was "a neat small edifice, and appropriately fitted-up." This was before the 1839 repairs.
- In 1846, after some rebuilding, Longueville Jones wrote that the east window was "one of the purest models" in Anglesey. He also liked the "richly sculptured compartments" of the font.
