St Mary's Church, Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church, Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf
The south side of the church
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OS grid reference	SH 506 829
Location	Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf, Anglesey
Country	Wales, United Kingdom
Denomination	Church in Wales
Website	Parish website
History
Status	Church
Founded	14th century
Dedication	St Mary
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	12 May 1970
Architect(s)	Henry Kennedy (1847 renovations)
Style	Medieval
Specifications
Length	52 ft 6 in (16.0 m)
Nave width	16 ft 3 in (5.0 m)
Materials	Rubble masonry
Administration
Parish	Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf with Llanbedrgoch with Pentraeth
Deanery	Tindaethwy and Menai
Archdeaconry	Bangor
Diocese	Diocese of Bangor
Province	Province of Wales

St Mary's Church, Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf is a small, very old church in Anglesey, north Wales. The oldest parts of the building, like the main hall (called the nave), were built in the 1300s. Other sections, such as the area around the altar (the chancel), were added in the 1400s.

This church has a special connection to a Welsh poet and priest named Goronwy Owen. He was born nearby and worked here for a short time. Later, he moved to America to teach.

St Mary's Church is still used for church services today. It is part of the Church in Wales and serves three local communities. It is also a Grade II* listed building. This means it's a very important old building that needs to be protected because it still has many of its original medieval parts.

Church History and Location

St Mary's Church is located close to the east coast of Anglesey, in north Wales. You can find it by a country road near the village of Brynteg. The area around the church also includes the seaside town of Benllech.

The church's name comes from Welsh words. Llan originally meant "enclosure" and later came to mean "church." "-Fair" is a Welsh form of "Mary." "Mathafarn Eithaf" means "area of the tavern."

Building Through the Centuries

This church is from the Middle Ages. The oldest part is the nave, which was built in the 1300s. The chancel (the area near the altar) and the arch connecting it to the nave were added in the 1400s.

In 1847, an architect named Henry Kennedy worked on the church. He added a small room (a vestry) on the north side and a covered entrance (a porch) on the south side. He also made other changes, like putting a new roof on the chancel.

St Mary's Today

The church is still an active place of worship. It is part of the Church in Wales. It is one of three churches that work together in the area. Services are held on Sunday mornings, changing between Holy Communion and Morning Prayer.

The famous Welsh priest and poet Goronwy Owen was born in this area in 1723. He worked as a priest at St Mary's for a few weeks. He later moved to America to teach at The College of William & Mary in Virginia, where he lived until he passed away.

Church Architecture and Features

St Mary's Church is built from rough stones (called rubble masonry). It has strong supports (called buttresses) at the eastern ends of the nave and chancel. The roof is made of slate. Inside, you can see the wooden beams that support the roof.

There is a small tower (a bellcote) at the west end of the roof. It holds one bell that was made in 1849. Inside the church, there's a balcony (a gallery) at the west end. You can reach it by climbing a spiral staircase.

The nave is longer and taller than the chancel. There's one step and a simple arch from the 1400s between them. The nave is about 16 meters long and 5 meters wide. The chancel is about 5.6 meters long and 4.1 meters wide.

Windows and Doors

You enter the church through the porch on the south side of the nave. This entrance has a round-topped doorway from the 1400s or 1500s.

On the south wall of the nave, there's a single window with a three-leaf shape (a trefoil). To the right of the porch, there are two more windows, each with three sections (lights) that also have trefoil tops. The south wall of the chancel has a similar window with two sections, which was added in 1847. Next to it, you can see a window from the 1600s that is now blocked up.

The north wall of the church was rebuilt in 1847. It has a doorway from the 1300s with a pointed arch. There are also windows on each side of this door, similar to those on the south side. The east window, from the 1400s, has three sections with five-leaf shapes (called cinquefoils) inside a pointed arch. There's also a decorative stone arch (a hood mould) on the outside.

Inside the Church

A survey in 1937 noted a wooden communion table from 1667. It also mentioned some memorials inside the church from 1724 and 1731. In the churchyard, there was an 11th-century cross, which once held a sundial.

Most of the furniture and decorations inside the church today are from the mid-1800s. The pulpit, where the priest gives sermons, has two carved pictures. One shows Christ, and the other shows Mary and baby Jesus. This pulpit was put in place in 1969 to mark 200 years since Goronwy Owen's death. The screen behind the altar (the reredos) remembers those who died in World War I.

Church's Importance

St Mary's Church is recognized nationally as a very important building. It is a Grade II* listed building. This is the second-highest level of protection for historic buildings. It means the church is "particularly important" and has "more than special interest." It received this status on May 12, 1970.

Cadw, the Welsh government body that protects Wales's historic buildings, says St Mary's was listed because it is "a good rural church retaining substantial medieval fabric." This means it's a great example of an old country church that still has many of its original medieval parts.

In 1847, a clergyman named Harry Longueville Jones described St Mary's as "a rather long and low building." He noted it was in a "rocky, and exposed locality" in an area that looked "bleak and desolate." He also thought the church's roof was special because of the amount of good, light wood used to build it.