St Edern's Church, Bodedern facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Edern's Church, Bodedern |
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The porch and south side of the nave and chancel
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| OS grid reference | SH 333 804 |
| Location | Bodedern, Anglesey |
| Country | Wales, United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church in Wales |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 6th century; earliest parts of present building are 14th-century |
| Founder(s) | St Edern |
| Dedication | St Edern |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 5 April 1971 |
| Architect(s) | Henry Kennedy (1871 rebuilding and restoration) |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Perpendicular |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 59 ft 6 in (18.1 m) (nave) |
| Nave width | 16 ft 9 in (5.1 m) |
| Other dimensions | Chancel: 17 by 16 ft (5.2 by 4.9 m) |
| Materials | Stone, slate roof |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Bodedern with Llanfaethlu |
| Deanery | Llifon and Talybolion |
| Archdeaconry | Bangor |
| Diocese | Diocese of Bangor |
| Province | Province of Wales |
St Edern's Church, Bodedern (also called St Edeyrn's Church) is a very old church in the village of Bodedern, Anglesey, north Wales. A saint named St Edern started a church here in the 6th century. However, the oldest parts of the building you see today are from the 14th century.
Over the years, the church has changed. Some windows were added in the 15th century. In the 19th century, a new chancel (the area around the altar), a transept (a side section), and a porch were built. The main walls of the church were also largely rebuilt then. Beautiful stained glass was put into the windows of the chancel and transept.
Inside the church, there's a special stone from the 6th century with writing on it. It was found nearby. You can also see a medieval font (a basin for baptisms) and some decorated wooden panels from the 1600s. These panels came from Jesus College, Oxford, which used to have a connection with the church. St Edern's also has three silver items from the 1800s used in church services. Sadly, a silver cup from 1574 was lost a long time ago. At the back of the church, there's an old gallery from the 1700s. It rests on two wooden beams, one of which was once used to hold up a rood loft (a platform above the main part of the church).
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales. It is one of nine churches in a group. It's a very important building, listed as a Grade II* listed building. This means it's a "particularly important building of more than special interest." People think it's a great example of a late medieval church. Its original feel was kept during the rebuilding in the late 1800s, and it still has some of its old medieval parts and windows.
Contents
Discovering St Edern's Church
The Church's Early Beginnings
Bodedern is a village in Anglesey, Wales. It's about 5 miles (8 km) from the port town of Holyhead. The village gets its name from St Edern, also known as "Aeternus." He was a Welsh saint from the 6th century. Stories say he was a knight of King Arthur in the Mabinogion, a collection of old Welsh tales.
St Edern started a church in this area in the 6th century. This first church might have been at a place called Pen Eglwys Edern. This spot is about half a mile (800 meters) from where the church stands today. Eglwys means "church" and pen means "head" or "top" in Welsh. Digs there in the early 1970s found a cemetery from the 5th or 6th century. The name Bodedern means "dwelling of Edern." The current church is in the middle of Bodedern, on the north side of Church Street.
How the Church Changed Over Time
St Edern's Church is very old, built in the medieval period. It has been changed and added to many times. The oldest part is the nave, which is the main body of the church. It was built in the 14th century. However, it was rebuilt in 1871 during a big restoration project. This work was led by Henry Kennedy, an architect for the Diocese of Bangor. Many churches in Anglesey were rebuilt or restored in the 1800s. Kennedy was in charge of a lot of this work from the 1840s to the 1890s.
During the 1871 work, the north wall was rebuilt above the windows. Only the bottom 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) of the south wall were left as they were. Some 15th-century windows in the nave were moved to new spots. A chancel (the eastern part of the church), a porch (at the south-west corner), and a transept (a side chapel on the north-east side) were added. This big project cost about £1,000, which was a lot of money back then.
The Church Today
St Edern's is still an active church for the Church in Wales. This is the Anglican church in Wales. It is one of nine churches in the group of Bodedern with Llanfaethlu. As of 2013, these nine churches did not have a full-time priest. The church is part of the Llifon and Talybolion area, within the archdeaconry of Bangor, and the Diocese of Bangor.
Long ago, St Edern's was linked to St Cybi's Church, Holyhead. In 1648, the right to appoint the priest and receive income from the church was given to Jesus College, Oxford. The college supported the church until 1920. This was when the Welsh Church Act 1914 came into effect, and the Church in Wales became separate from the state. In 1849, a writer named Samuel Lewis noted that Jesus College and Queen Anne's Bounty (a fund for clergy) had each paid £400 for a new house for the priest. He also wrote that the college received money each year from the parish instead of tithes (church taxes). The college also gave £200 towards the restoration work in 1871.
Church Design and Features
Building Style and Structure
St Edern's Church is built in the Perpendicular style. This was a popular style in England during the late medieval period. It uses local stone, with cut sandstone blocks on the outside. The roof is made of slate. At the west end, there's a small bell tower with one bell, probably from the 1600s. There is one support wall, called a buttress, on the south-east side of the nave. This helps hold up the building. There are also crosses on the roofs of the porch, nave, and chancel.
The church entrance is through an arched doorway in the porch. Inside, there's a 15th-century inner door with a pointed arch. The porch roof uses old medieval wood. The nave, the main part of the church, is about 59 feet 6 inches (18.1 meters) long and 16 feet 9 inches (5.1 meters) wide. At the back of the nave, there's a gallery supported by two oak beams. One of these beams has the date 1777 carved into it. An old writer from the 1800s said that a rood loft (a platform above the church) used to rest on one of these beams. The wooden roof timbers inside the church are visible.
The chancel, which is 17 by 16 feet (5.2 by 4.9 meters), is two steps higher than the nave. A Victorian arch separates the chancel from the nave. There's also a Victorian arch between the nave and the north transept. The second of the three steps leading from the chancel to the altar area has special decorated tiles. They have Welsh words that mean, "Wash my passion away with innocence at the altar of the Lord here."
Windows and Stained Glass
The church has five windows on the south side of the nave. One window, west of the porch, has a pointed shape. The others are square. The middle and easternmost of these five windows are from the 15th century but were moved. The other three are from the 1800s. On the north side, there's an early 14th-century pointed doorway. To its west is a 19th-century window. To its east are two 15th-century windows with two lights (sections of glass). These were also moved. The west wall has a 15th-century window that was also repositioned.
The east window of the chancel is also from the 15th century. It has three lights with a three-leaf pattern called trefoils and decorative stone work called tracery. The glass in this window, from the 1800s, shows the Ascension (Jesus going up to heaven). The south side of the chancel and the north transept have windows from the 1800s. The south chancel window has three lights with tracery and a five-leaf pattern called cinquefoils. It also has geometric glass patterns.
The stained glass in the east and south chancel windows remembers the wife, son, and daughter of Hugh Wynne Jones. They died in the mid-1800s. Hugh Wynne Jones was the first priest to be the vicar of the parish (from 1868 to 1888). Earlier priests were curates, a lower position. He is shown as Simeon, a person from the Bible. In the Bible, Simeon meets Jesus and his family when they visit the Temple. The north transept has a three-light window showing St Edern. This window was made by Franz Mayer & Co.. There are also two-light windows on the east and west sides of the transept. One of these has a window from 1951 made by Celtic Studios.
Inside the Church: Panels and Other Items
St Edern's has several pieces of wooden paneling from the 1600s. They might have come from the Netherlands. There's a screen made of softwood between the nave and chancel. It's decorated with carved flowers and fruit. The reredos (the screen behind the altar) also has carved panels. So do the top part of the pulpit (where sermons are given), a reading desk, the communion rail, and a table. The panels on the communion rail are between wooden columns decorated with fruit, flowers, and ribbons. A long balustrade (a row of small columns) with acanthus leaf patterns tops them.
These panels came from Jesus College, Oxford. They might have been from the college chapel, which was renovated in 1864. Or they could have come from an old gallery in the library. The balustrade used to be along the tops of the chapel's pews. The college's historian said the chancel has "a startling assemblage" of panels. They are "patched together in jigsaw fashion" and "heavily varnished."
A stone from the 6th century, with the name "Ergagni" carved on it, is kept in the transept. It was found during digs at the Pen Eglwys Edern site in 1972. The font, used for baptisms, is from the medieval period. It's a simple eight-sided bowl on an eight-sided column.
There are also several memorials in the church. These include a "chunky Grecian memorial" for an officer who died in 1835. There's also a tablet from 1839 in a classical style. Another slate tablet remembers an army officer who died in 1914. A survey in 1937 also noted an oak communion table and two simple oak chairs from the early 1700s. There are also various memorials inside and outside the church from the 1600s and 1700s.
A survey of church silver in the Bangor area in 1906 listed three silver items. These were a plain chalice (cup) from 1887–88, a paten (plate) from 1803–04, and a flagon (jug) marked "Bodedern 1809." The survey noted that old church records from 1776 to 1831 mentioned another silver chalice from 1574. They also mentioned a flagon and paten made of pewter. But these items were no longer there.
Churchyard
The churchyard has a war grave for a soldier from the Royal Field Artillery who died in World War I.
Why St Edern's Church is Special
St Edern's Church is nationally recognized and protected. It is a Grade II* listed building. This is the second-highest level of protection. It means the building is "particularly important" and has "more than special interest." It got this status on April 5, 1971. This is because it's seen as "a good example of a late medieval church." Its original style was kept during the rebuilding in the late 1800s. It still has some of its medieval parts and windows.
Cadw, the Welsh government body that protects old buildings, also points out "some finely detailed fittings." These include the screen between the nave and chancel, the reredos, the pulpit, and the reading desk. They all have carved panels from the 1600s. Cadw also notes the gallery at the west end from the late 1700s.
People have described the church before the 1871 rebuilding. In 1833, a historian named Angharad Llwyd said the church was "a small ancient structure, displaying some good architectural details." She also noted that it had "some fine monuments" to local families. Sir Stephen Glynne, a politician and church historian, visited in 1851. He said the church was "little superior in size or architecture to the generality of Anglesey churches." But he added that it was in "a neat and creditable state." He also liked the "neat and uniform" pews. In 1862, a clergyman and historian named Harry Longueville Jones wrote that the church was "of good work." He said its doors and windows were "carefully elaborated." He compared the east window to one at St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, also in Anglesey. He also noted a small recess, called an ambry, in the east wall under the window.
