St Cristiolus's Church, Llangristiolus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Cristiolus's Church, Llangristiolus |
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| OS grid reference | SH 450 736 |
| Location | Llangristiolus, Anglesey |
| Country | Wales, United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church in Wales |
| Website | St Cristiolus's Church |
| History | |
| Status | Church |
| Founded | 610 (reputedly) Present building dates from 12th century |
| Founder(s) | St Cristiolus (reputedly) |
| Dedication | St Cristiolus |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 30 January 1968 |
| Architect(s) | Henry Kennedy (1852 restoration) |
| Style | Mainly in Decorated style |
| Specifications | |
| Length | Nave 44 ft 9 in (13.6 m); chancel 32 ft 9 in (10.0 m) |
| Width | Nave 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m); chancel 20 ft 6 in (6.2 m) |
| Materials | Rubble masonry, dressed with freestone |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Plwyf Seintiau Braint a Chefni |
| Deanery | Malltraeth |
| Archdeaconry | Bangor |
| Diocese | Diocese of Bangor |
| Province | Province of Wales |
St Cristiolus's Church is a very old church near the village of Llangristiolus in Anglesey, north Wales. The village itself is named after the church! People believe that a saint named Cristiolus first started a church here way back in 610 AD. The building you see today was mostly built in the 1100s and 1200s.
Over the years, the church has been changed and updated. In the 1500s, a huge east window was added to the main part of the church, called the chancel. Some people even say it looks "almost too big to fit" in the wall! More updates happened in the mid-1800s, when new windows were put in and parts of the church were rebuilt.
Today, St Cristiolus's Church is still an active place of worship. It holds weekly Sunday services in both Welsh and English. It's part of the Church in Wales and is one of several churches in its local area. The church is considered a very important building and has a special status called "Grade II* listed". This means it's a "particularly important building of more than special interest" because of how old it is and its unique east window. Inside, you can see a decorated font from the 1100s and memorials from the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s. The churchyard is also the resting place of Richard Owen, a famous preacher from the 1800s, and the geologists Edward and Annie Greenly.
History and Location
St Cristiolus's Church is located in the middle of Anglesey, north Wales. It sits on high ground near the A5 and A55 roads, overlooking Malltraeth Marsh. The modern village of Llangristiolus is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of the church. The village's name comes from the church: llan means "church" in Welsh, and "-gristiolus" is a form of the saint's name.
No one knows exactly when the very first church was built here. However, it's believed that St Cristiolus started a church on this spot in 610 AD. St Cristiolus was a saint from the 600s, and not much is known about him. He was a follower of St Cadfan, another saint linked to a Christian community on Bardsey Island in Wales. St Cristiolus is also thought to have founded a church in Eglwyswrw in south Wales and was the brother of St Rhystud, who started the church at Llanrhystud in mid-Wales.
The church building we see today dates back to the 1100s. It's the only medieval building left in the area. In the 1200s, the chancel (the eastern part of the church) was made longer. More changes were made in the early 1500s when some new windows were added to the chancel. In 1852, the church had a big restoration project led by Henry Kennedy, an architect for the Diocese of Bangor. During this time, the chancel was rebuilt, and more windows were added.
St Cristiolus's Church is still used regularly for services. It's part of a group of six churches in the area. The other churches are St Michael's, Gaerwen; St Ffinan's, Llanffinan; St Caffo's, Llangaffo; St Edwen's, Llanedwen; and St Mary's, Llanfairpwll. Services are held every Sunday morning, either a bilingual Holy Communion or Morning Prayer.
Many people have been connected to the church over the centuries. These include Henry Maurice, a professor at the University of Oxford in the 1600s, and the writer and priest Owen Wynne Jones in the 1800s. The famous preacher Richard Owen was born in this area and is buried in the churchyard.
Church Design and Features
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The church is built from rough stones, mostly gritstone, with smoother, cut stones used for details. The main part of the church, the nave, is about 13.6 metres (45 ft) long and 4.7 metres (15 ft) wide. The chancel is about 10 metres (33 ft) long and 6.25 metres (21 ft) wide, making it a bit wider than the nave. Both the nave and chancel have supports called buttresses on the outside walls.
Inside, the arch that separates the chancel from the nave was built in the 1200s. It's about 3.7 metres (12 ft) wide and 5.8 metres (19 ft) high. The church has windows from the early 1500s in the chancel. The large east window is in a style called Perpendicular style, which is different from the rest of the church, which is mostly in the Decorated style. This window is very big, about 3.3 metres (11 ft) wide and 4.3 metres (14 ft) tall, and has coloured glass, unlike most other windows in the church. A smaller window from the same time is in the north wall, and a matching one was added in the 1800s on the opposite wall. Other windows in the church were added in the 1800s. One window in the nave has stained glass as a memorial to two local people.
You enter the church through a porch on the south side, which probably dates from the 1500s. The roof is made of slate. At the west end of the roof, there's a fancy bellcote for one bell, added by Henry Kennedy. There are simple iron crosses on top of the porch and the chancel. Inside, you can see the wooden beams and supports of the roof. The wooden benches (pews) and choir stalls were added in the 1800s. There are also several memorials inside, including one for those from the area who died in the First World War.
The round font, made of gritstone, is at the west end of the church and dates from the 1100s. It has six decorated panels. This font is special because its patterns, called interlace, show connections to Irish and Norse art styles. Other similar fonts in Anglesey can be found at St Ceinwen's, Cerrigceinwen, St Peter's, Newborough and St Beuno's, Trefdraeth.
Churchyard
The churchyard is the burial ground around the church. It contains six Commonwealth war graves. These are the graves of soldiers and an airman who died during World War I and World War II.
Why This Church is Special
St Cristiolus's Church is very important and protected by law. It's a Grade II* listed building, which is the second-highest level of protection. This means it's a "particularly important building of more than special interest." It received this status on January 30, 1968. It's special because it's a medieval church that still has many parts from the 1100s and 1200s, which is unusual for churches in Anglesey.
Cadw, the Welsh government body that looks after Wales's historic buildings, also highlights the "fine 16th-century rebuilding of the chancel" and its impressive window. The arch inside the church, which separates the nave and chancel, has been called the best of its kind in the region. The "fine" east window is so big that some describe it as "almost too big to fit" in the wall!
Many people who studied old buildings have visited and written about the church. In the 1800s, Angharad Llwyd called it a "spacious structure" with "excellent architectural details" and a "good design" east window. Another clergyman, Harry Longueville Jones, noted the "good character" of the chancel arch in 1846.
Sir Stephen Glynne, a Welsh politician and church historian, visited in 1849. He said it was a "fair specimen of the better sort of Anglesey village church." He also thought the chancel arch was "of considerable elegance, unusual in North Wales."
