St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen

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Coordinates: 53°11′26″N 4°13′12″W / 53.190578°N 4.220076°W / 53.190578; -4.220076
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St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen
Province of Wales
DioceseDiocese of Bangor
ArchdeaconryBangor
DeanerySynod Ynys Mon
ParishBro Dwynwen
Clergy
Priest in chargeReverend E Roberts
Assistant priest(s)Canon Professor Leslie Francis

St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen, is a 19th-century

National Trust
. Some of the Marquesses of Anglesey, and some of their employees, are also buried in the churchyard.

The church is used for worship by the Church in Wales, one of seven in a combined parish. A service is held using the Book of Common Prayer each Sunday morning. St Edwen's is one of the few churches in regular use in Wales to be lit entirely by candles. It is a Grade II listed building, a national designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them",[1] in particular because it is regarded as "a good example of H Kennedy's designs for a small-scale rural church."[2]

History and location

St Edwen's Church is in the south of

llan originally meant "enclosure" and then "church".[6]

According to the 19th-century Anglesey historian

St Edwen in 640.[7] Nothing is known of Edwen's life, but according to the manuscript sources, she was the daughter – perhaps the illegitimate daughter – or the niece of Edwin of Northumbria, a king who converted to Christianity in 627 and who was venerated as a saint after his death in 633. The 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth said that Edwin was born whilst his mother was taking refuge in north Wales with Cadfan ap Iago.[8]

Llwyd described the church in 1833 as "a small but neat edifice, of great antiquity".

Early Perpendicular style, although its windows had been replaced, and measured 52 by 16 feet (16 by 5 m).[10] The Welsh politician and church historian Sir Stephen Glynne visited in May 1850. He said that it was "a very small church in a lovely situation", which had "a beautiful view over the Menai".[11]

In 1856, the church seen by Llwyd, Jones and Glynne was demolished and the present structure was erected, designed by Henry Kennedy, architect of the Diocese of Bangor. The only part of the old church to survive was some of the stonework at the base of the west wall.[2] Some repair work was carried out in 1956.[4]

St Edwen's, which is used for worship by the

archdeaconry of Bangor and the Diocese of Bangor.[14] As of 2016, the priest in charge is the Reverend E Roberts and the associate priest is Canon Professor Leslie Francis.[15][16]

People associated with the church include

First World War officer of the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry.[18]

Architecture and fittings

The west end of the church

St Edwen's is built from local red gritstone, formed into square blocks and dressed with sandstone. The roof is made from slate with stone edging. The church, which is in the Late Decorated style, has a tower topped with a broach spire at the north-west corner of the nave, supported by buttresses. The church is entered through a porch with an arched doorway in the lowest of the three stages of the tower.[2] Inside, the woodwork of the roof is exposed; some of the nave timbers might be medieval beams reused in the 1856 rebuilding.[2][9] The nave and chancel are divided by an arch and by three steps leading up from the nave. The chancel and sanctuary are separated by an altar rail set on top of some wooden panels.[2]

There is a pair of windows in the west wall decorated with tracery (stonework within the window frame forming a pattern). Scenes from the Bible and geometric patterns are shown in the stained glass, and birds (phoenix and peacock) are depicted at the top of the windows. The glass is dedicated to Rice Robert Hughes, a clergyman who died in 1801. There are three arched windows in the south wall of the nave; the stained glass of the easternmost (dedicated to William Bulkeley Hughes) shows biblical scenes. The easternmost window of the three in the north wall of the nave is dedicated to Thomas Bulkeley Hughes (who died in 1836), his wife and children. The chancel has one window in the east wall, which has three lights (sections of window separated by stone mullions).[2]

The pulpit has some 19th-century oak panelling and reuses some ornate 17th-century panel work that is decorated with pictures of cherubs, dragons, dogs and lions' heads. The pews are made of pine; the choir stalls also have some carved oak panels that may date from the 17th century. A reading desk from the 19th century reuses material from the 14th and 17th centuries, depicting a lion, a griffin and angels. The church also has an eight-sided sandstone font decorated with a carved cross.[2]

A survey in 1937 by the

Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire recorded seven 17th and 18th century memorials within the church, the oldest in memory of a Thomas Owen who died in 1646. The tombs in the churchyard include one of a Sidney Griffith (died 1618) and more than 20 others from the 17th and 18th centuries. The survey also noted some oak dog tongs, likely to be from the 19th century, and three 17th-century chairs.[3]

A survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese in 1906 recorded an engraved chalice dated 1842 and a paten dated 1776–77; both are made from silver and are decorated with foliage. A silver flagon bears an inscription to denote that it was given by William Bulkeley Hughes when the new church was consecrated in 1856. The survey also noted a flagon from about 1700 and a dish, both made of pewter, but said that an 18th-century silver chalice had been lost some time after 1811.[17] St Edwen's is one of the few churches in regular use in Wales to be lit only by candles.[4]

Assessment

A view of the church from Y Felinheli on the opposite side of the Menai Strait

St Edwen's has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II listed building – the lowest of the three grades of listing, designating "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them".[1] It was given this status on 23 April 1998, and has been listed because it is seen as "a good example of H Kennedy's designs for a small-scale rural church".[2] Cadw (the Welsh Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes the fittings that incorporate "some fine carved work of the 14th and 17th centuries."[2]

Sabine Baring-Gould, writing in 1908, said that the rebuilt church was "wholly devoid of interest".[8] A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region notes that the Incorporated Church Building Society (active in the 19th century) considered Kennedy's design was "inconsistent with the gravity of feeling which pervades the ancient churches of Wales."[9]

Harry Longueville Jones wrote in 1847 that the churchyard was "one of the most interesting in Anglesey, from its picturesque appearance and situation."[10] A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey describes St Edwen's as "a good example of an unspoilt 19th century country church", adding that is "little changed since it was built."[4] It says that it is in a "tranquil spot", and notes that it is a landmark "visible from a considerable distance".[4]

Notes

  1. ^ The other six churches in the parish are St Mary, Llanfairpwll; St Ceinwen, Llangeinwen; St Nidan, Llanidan; St Peter, Newborough; St Thomas, Newborough; and St Mary, Llanfair-yn-y-Cwmwd.[12]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-85760-222-6
    .
  2. ^
    National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ^
    Her Majesty's Stationery Office
    . pp. 54–55.
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-84527-089-4
    .
  5. ^ "Plas Newydd". National Trust. 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  6. BBC Wales
    . Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  7. ^ a b Llwyd, Angharad (1833). A History of the Island of Mona. R. Jones. p. 234.
  8. ^ a b Baring-Gould, Sabine (1908). The lives of the British Saints: the Saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish Saints as have dedications in Britain. Vol. II. Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. pp. 412–413.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-14169-6
    .
  10. ^ a b Longueville Jones, Harry (1847). "Mona Mediaeva No. V". Archaeologia Cambrensis. II. Cambrian Archaeological Association: 49–50.
  11. ^ Glynne, Sir Stephen (1900). "Notes on the Older Churches of the Four Welsh Dioceses". Archaeologia Cambrensis. 5th. XVII. Cambrian Archaeological Association: 94.
  12. ^ "Bro Cadwaladr". Church in Wales. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  13. ^ "The Parish of St Edwen". Church in Wales. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Synod Ynys Mon". Church in Wales. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  15. ^ "The Reverend E Roberts". Church in Wales. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Canon Professor Leslie Francis". Church in Wales. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  17. ^ a b Jones, E. Alfred (1906). The church plate of the Diocese of Bangor. Bemrose and Sons Ltd. pp. 23–24.
  18. ^ "Roberts, R B". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 22 April 2016.

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