St Mary's Church, Bodewryd
St Mary's Church, Bodewryd | |
---|---|
Province of Wales | |
Diocese | Diocese of Bangor |
Archdeaconry | Bangor |
Deanery | Twrcelyn |
Parish | Llanfechell with Bodewryd with Rhosbeirio with Llanfflewin and Llanbadrig |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Canon G W Edwards[1] |
St Mary's Church, Bodewryd (/bɒdˈɛwrɪd/; Welsh: [bɔd'ɛʊrɪd]) is a small medieval church in the hamlet of Bodewryd, in Anglesey, north Wales. The date of construction is unknown, but there was a church on this site in 1254 and the earliest feature to which a date can be given is a doorway in a 15th-century style dating to around 1500. When the church was restored in 1867 after being struck by lightning, stained glass with Islamic-influenced patterns was included in the windows, a requirement of Lord Stanley of Alderley, the church's benefactor, who was a convert to Islam.
The church is used for worship by the Church in Wales, and is one of five churches in a combined parish. 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",[2] in particular because it is a "simple, rural church of Medieval origins."[3]
History and location
The date of foundation of the first religious building on this site is unknown. A church was recorded here in the
For many years, the church was associated with the Wynn (or Wynne) family of Bodewryd. They had an estate at Bodewryd from 1521 until 1755, when Edward Wynne (Chancellor of the Diocese of Hereford from 1707 to 1754) died without male heirs.[note 1] His uncle, Humphrey Humphreys (who was Bishop of Bangor and then Bishop of Hereford), was married in St Mary's in 1690; the bishop's sister had married into the Wynne family in 1672.[6][8]
The church is by the side of the road in Bodewryd, in the north of Anglesey, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the town of
Architecture and fittings
The rectangular church, which has been described as "tiny",
There are two fonts: one, which may be medieval in origin, is a gritstone bowl of rectangular shape; the other, which may have been added during the 19th-century restoration, is an oval alabaster bowl, with rich decoration.[3] The south wall of the chancel has a brass tablet to mark money received from Queen Anne's Bounty in 1720 and Robert Wynn, rector of Llantrisant, Anglesey, in 1727.[3][13] There are various memorials on the interior walls. Edward Wynne (who is buried in the churchyard), his siblings and parents are commemorated by various brass tablets.[3][8] The 1937 survey of the church by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire claims that seven generations of Wynne's male ancestors were buried in the church, beginning with Rees ap Llewelyn in 1500.[13] The survey also recorded that the church possessed a silver cup from about 1641 donated by Wynne, a silver cup and paten donated by his sister Ellin in 1703, and part of an oak table top with a Latin inscription and the date 1611.[13]
Assessment
The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II
The 19th-century antiquarian
Notes
- ^ The estate passed to the grand-daughter of his sister. The heiress, Margaret Owen, married Sir John Stanley, baronet; their son was ennobled as the first Baron Stanley of Alderley, grandfather of the church's 1867 benefactor (the third Baron).[8][9]
- ^ The Diocese of Bangor does not explain whether this is based on length, floor surface area, or cubic capacity of the building, nor does it state what the smallest church in Anglesey is, or whether the comparisons include former churches, whether in ruins or not. For comparison, St Tysilio's Church, Menai Bridge, which is still in use, is 33 feet 9 inches (10.29 m) long, 1 foot shorter than St Mary's, but is slightly wider and has a larger floor surface area overall,[11] whilst the ruined churches of St Michael, Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, Capel Lligwy and St Mary, Rhodogeidio all have smaller floor surface areas than St Mary's, Bodewryd.[12]
References
- ^ a b c "Church in Wales: Benefices". Church in Wales. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ ISBN 1-85760-222-6.
- ^ National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-9568769-0-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-14169-6.
- ^ a b c d "Deanery of Twrcelyn: St Mary, Bodewryd". Church in Wales. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ^ a b c Jones, Evan David (1959). "Wynn family, of Bodewryd, Anglesey". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
- ^ Richards, Thomas (1959). "Stanley family, of Penrhos, Anglesey". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
- ^ ISBN 1-84527-089-4.
- ^ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, p. 52
- ^ Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, pp. 83–84, 132, 144
- ^ a b c d e f Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, p. 18
- ^ ISBN 1-872773-73-7.
- Bibliography
- Her Majesty's Stationery Office.