St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy
The church from the south-west
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OS grid reference	SH 327 908
Location	Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, Anglesey
Country	Wales, United Kingdom
Denomination	Church in Wales
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	11th or 12th century
Dedication	St Mary
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	12 May 1970
Architect(s)	Weightman and Hadfield, Sheffield (1847 restoration) Harold Hughes (1931 repairs)
Architectural type	Church
Style	Medieval with Perpendicular details
Specifications
Length	Nave: 27 ft 9 in (8.5 m)
Nave width	13 ft 8 in (4.2 m)
Other dimensions	Chancel: 32 ft 6 in by 14 ft (9.9 by 4.3 m) South chapel: 32 ft 6 in by 14 ft 6 in (9.9 by 4.4 m)
Materials	Rubble masonry dressed with freestone; slate roof
Administration
Parish	Bodedern with Llanfaethlu
Deanery	Llifon and Talybolion
Archdeaconry	Bangor
Diocese	Diocese of Bangor
Province	Province of Wales

St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy is a very old church in the north-west of Anglesey, Wales. It's a parish church, which means it serves the local community. The church is in the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy. We don't know exactly when it was built, but some parts are from the 11th or 12th century. That's over 800 years ago!

The church has been made bigger twice. In the 15th century, the chancel (the area around the altar) was rebuilt. In the 16th century, a chapel was added to the south side. The tall tower at the west end was built in the 17th century. St Mary's Church is a special building. It's a Grade I listed building, which means it's considered "exceptionally important" to the country's history. People have called it "one of the best examples of an old parish church" in Anglesey. Today, it's still used for worship by the Church in Wales.

History of St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church is the main church for the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy. It sits in a churchyard next to a small road. The village is close to the coast, about 8 miles (13 km) from Holyhead. The name Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy tells us about the church. "Llan" means "church" in Welsh, and "fair" comes from "Mair," which is Welsh for "Mary." The full name means "St Mary's in the promontory" or "St Mary in the angle of the waters," because it's near the sea.

How Old is the Church?

We don't know the exact date the first church was built here. But we know there was a church in Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy by 1254. The oldest parts of the church you see today are the walls of the nave (the main part where people sit). Also, the arch between the nave and the chancel is very old. These parts date back to the 11th or 12th century.

In the 15th century, the chancel was rebuilt and made larger. Then, in the 16th century, a chapel was added to the south side of the chancel. This chapel is separated by three arches. A tower was added to the west end of the church in the 17th century. Some people think it was built around 1660.

Changes Over Time

At some point, a porch was added to the south-west side of the nave. Later, in the mid-1800s, the entrance to this porch was closed off and turned into a window. Since then, you enter the church through the door in the west side of the tower. Some repair work was done in 1847. More repairs happened in 1860. In the 1930s, more work was done on the chancel and south chapel.

St Mary's Church is still an active church today. It's one of nine churches in the area that share a priest. As of 2013, the church was looking for a new priest.

Important People Connected to the Church

Many interesting people have been linked to St Mary's Church. One was James Williams, who was the church's priest from 1821 to 1872. He was a hero! In 1828, after a terrible storm caused a boat to sink, he helped start a group to save lives from shipwrecks. In 1835, he even won a gold medal for helping rescue a boat during a storm.

The famous artist Sir Kyffin Williams (1918–2006) was James Williams's great-grandson. Sir Kyffin asked for a memorial to his great-grandparents to be placed on the chapel wall. James, his wife Frances, and Sir Kyffin Williams are all buried in the churchyard. The churchyard also has graves of two sailors who died in World War I and World War II.

Church Design and Features

St Mary's is a medieval church. It was built using rubble masonry (rough stones) with freestone (nicely cut stones) for details. The roof is made of slate. Inside, you can see the wooden beams of the roofs in the nave, chancel, and chapel. The beams in the nave have painted shield designs. The chancel roof is from the late 15th century, and the chapel roof is from the early 16th century.

Inside the Church

You enter the church through the door on the west side of the tower. There are modern double doors leading from the tower into the nave. The nave is the main part of the church. Between the nave and the chancel, there's a simple round arch from the 11th or 12th century. The chancel has some gravestones from the 1700s.

The chapel is connected to the chancel by three arches. These arches rest on eight-sided columns. On one arch, you can see old writing from the early 1500s that says, "Saint Mary pray for me David ap Iago." Another arch has a stone with a roughly carved face. There used to be a screen across the chancel, which you can still see marks of on the wall.

The font, where baptisms happen, is at the back of the nave. It's eight-sided on the outside but round inside. The church also has old silver items like a chalice (a cup for communion) from 1713 and a paten (a small plate) from 1724–25.

Church Windows

The nave has two windows. The south window, from the 14th century, has two sections separated by stone bars. The north window in the nave has three sections with rounded tops. Some say it's from the 14th century, others say the 16th century.

The window at the east end of the chancel is from the 15th century. It has three sections with a pattern of five joined circles at the top. The stained glass in this window, added in 1850, shows pictures of Christ. There are also two windows in the chapel, each with three sections.

Tower and Porch Details

The tower has strong supports called buttresses on the outside. The door on the west side of the tower has a pointed arch. The tower has two levels. The top level is a bit narrower than the base. There are simple rectangular openings in the tower walls. A 17th-century bell hangs in the west wall. The top of the tower wall has a crenellated (castle-like) design. Behind the top wall, there's a short, pyramid-shaped spire made of wood and covered in slates.

The south porch is quite long. It's now used as a vestry (a room for the priest to prepare). The original doorway from the nave into the vestry is from the 14th century and has a unique design. The roof of the porch might be from the late medieval period.

Why St Mary's Church is Important

St Mary's Church is a very important historical building. It's a Grade I listed building, which is the highest level of protection. This means it has "exceptional, usually national, interest." Less than 2% of all listed buildings in Wales are in this top category. It got this special status on May 12, 1970. It's recognized for being a "fine rural parish church" with very old parts, like its 12th-century chancel arch.

Cadw, the Welsh government group that looks after old buildings, also notes its "good late Medieval additions." This includes the beautiful 16th-century chapel with its arches. They say St Mary's is "of special interest" because it's so old and has such good details from later periods.

Writers from the past have also praised the church. In 1833, Angharad Llwyd called it a "spacious ancient structure" with a "lofty square tower." Another writer in the 1800s, Samuel Lewis, mentioned the "many elegant monuments" inside. In 1862, a clergyman named Harry Longueville Jones said it was "one of the best specimens of an old parish church in the island." He also thought the east window was "good in detail."

More recently, a guide to Anglesey churches in 2006 described it as a "fairly large church" in a "quiet wooded location." It also pointed out the "impressive lychgate" (a covered entrance to the churchyard) and the "squat pyramidal structure" on top of the tower. A 2009 guide called St Mary's "the most important church of north-west Anglesey."

Images for kids

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  The 17th-century tower

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  The grave of the artist Sir Kyffin Williams