History

Late Medieval double-naved church within a raised, circular churchyard, implying a Celtic site. This the Rev. Thomas Davies substantially remodelled 1838-9 with the help of his friend, the Rev. David Owen, of neighbouring Eglwysbach. Some C16 arched-light windows survive; the C19 raising, relating to the provision of new roofs, is evident on the gable ends.

Exterior

Twin-naved church of rubble construction with slate roofs; plain, over-hanging eaves and deep verges with simple curly bargeboards. Gabled N and S porches with barge-boards as before to slate roofs, feathered at the eaves. Round-arched entrances with sandstone ashlar voussoirs and projecting keystones. Similar, chamfered inner arches with recessed boarded and studded doors; simple decorative door furniture. Above the outer arch on the S side, an inset sandstone plaque inscribed: 'Rebuilt AD 1839 by T. Davies, Rector'. Single-light, wooden-framed, arched windows to the W of each porch and on the N side two similar 3-light leaded windows to the E, all C19. On the S side is a further, similar window with a stone, 3-light mullioned window of the C16 to the far R, clearly prioviding the inspiration for the C19 ones. Similar C16 stone windows to the W and E ends, the latter with returned labels, that to the L with primitive carved head stops. Simple bellcote to N aisle at W end, with arched bell opening and a shaped stone finial on top.

Interior

Plain 6-bay arcade of plastered, pointed arches on renewed timber posts; slate flagged floors and pine box pews to S aisle and western part of N aisle. Tiered box seating to W end inscribed 'Boys' and 'Girls'; a boiler room (S) and a small vestry (N) flank these. Shallow canted plaster ceilings with boxed transverse beams carried on wooden, Jacobethan-style corbels. Medieval octagonal font on a moulded base and set on a 3-tiered square plinth. On the centre of the N aisle, an octagonal C19 pulpit with simple panelled and reeded sides; reading desk below with stick-baluster stairs with geometric newel. Behind the pulpit are pointed-arched, framed paintings of Jesus and (to the R) the Royal Arms with VR monogram (despite their Hanovarian type) and Welsh inscriptions including one to 'honour the king.' Glazed ocular skylight above pulpit, with coloured glass. This arrangement of pews and pulpit is a fine North-Walian example of a pre-Oxford Movement Church.

Plain C20 altar rails to stepped-up altar and a panelled reredos containing re-used sections of late C16 secular carved panelling.Simple decorative stained glass to E window with plain and coloured quarries counterchanged to centre and borders. White marble wall tablet to Sir Thomas Kyffin of Maenan Hall (1752), with broken, curved pediment and gadrooned base with cherub's head. Further, similar tablet to Sir Thomas Kyffin of Maenan Hall (1784), by Van der Hagen the Younger, sculptor of Shrewsbury; architectural frame with urn finials and cherub's heads to base. To the L of the (S) E window, a wall tablet in black and white marble to Eleanor Jane Preston (1846) with heraldic shield above. Set into the floor in the NE corner are two primitive C17 tomb slabs, both relocated. The first is to Anne, daughter of William Owen of Bodowen, Anglesey, and Richard Kyffin of Maenan Esq., (d. 1675), and is in large, raised lettering. The second is to Jane Kyffin, d.1684.

Reasons for Listing

Listed grade II* as a prominent village church with Medieval origins, and as a rare surviving example of a pre-Oxford Movement interior.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17744452

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)