St Nidan's Church, Llanidan
St Nidan's Church, Llanidan | |
---|---|
Province of Wales | |
Diocese | Diocese of Bangor |
Archdeaconry | Bangor |
Deanery | Tindaethwy and Menai |
Parish | Newborough with Llanidan with Llangeinwen and Llanfair-yn-y-Cymwd |
Clergy | |
Priest in charge | E. Roberts[1] |
St Nidan's Church, Llanidan is a 19th-century parish church near the village of
The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales, one of five in a group of parishes in the south of Anglesey. 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",[3] in particular because it is regarded as "a distinctive example of pre-archaeological gothic revival work."[4] The 19th-century clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones said that it had been built in a "debased barbarous style, showing neither architectural science nor taste".[5]
History and location
St Nidan's Church was built between 1839 and 1843, replacing its medieval predecessor.
A new church was needed because the old church needed significant repair and also because the growth of
St Nidan's is still used for worship by the
Architecture and fittings
St Nidan's is built mainly from red
The gallery at the west end of the nave, supported by octagonal columns, is reached from the entrance porch; it has its pews set at an angle. A step leads up from the nave into the chancel, with a further two steps up from the chancel into the sanctuary. The floor of the chancel and the sanctuary are made from encaustic tiles. The internal walls have been plastered.[4] The nave has two bays, each lit with a lancet window; the transepts have groups of three large lancent windows, as does the east end of the building. The chancel window depicts "Faith, Hope and Charity", by Heaton, Butler and Bayne (1877); it is dedicated to the 5th Lord Boston who died in 1897. One transept set of windows by Shrigley and Hunt depicts the Ascension, in memory of Anna Maria Evans (died 1929, wife of the vicar Richard Evans).[2][4]
A sandstone chest with a glass front was moved here from the old church; local tradition maintains that it holds the relics of St Nidan. It was discovered under the altar of the old church, and may date from the 16th century.[2][4] The church also has pews made of pine, and a semi-octagonal pulpit with decorated panels.[4]
A survey by the
In 1906, a survey of church plate within the Bangor diocese recorded that St Nidan's had a silver chalice and alms dish. These were donated probably in 1701 and remade in 1871–72. It also had a silver paten and two cruets with silver handles, all marked with the date 1871–72. Records from the 19th century indicated that two tankards (one silver, one pewter) and a silver chalice had been lost.[11]
The churchyard contains the grave of
Assessment
The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II
Writing in 1846, the clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones condemned the treatment of the old church, which he said was "one of the largest and most important in the island of Anglesey", given its architecture, contents and traditions.[5] He said that the new church had been built "in a debased barbarous style, showing neither architectural science nor taste, and without any example or analogy amongst the ecclesiastical edifices of any age, except the present."[5] He also described it in 1863 as "that hideous pile ... a painfully impressive example of architectural bad taste."[15] He said that the font was "one of the most interesting as a work of art (not later than the thirteenth century) extent in Anglesey", and although he did not consider that its design or execution matched that of the font at St Ceinwen's Church, Llangeinwen, it was "a highly valuable specimen of medieval taste."[15] The reliquary, he added, was "unique, so far as Wales is concerned".[15]
The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis said that the new church was "apparently of substantial construction, but is much inferior in style to the old building."[7] The historian and clergyman Edmund Tyrrell Green, writing a survey of Anglesey church architecture and contents in 1929, described the church as "hideous", although he said that the font was "remarkable" for its "very graceful patterns in relief showing influence of Greek classical design."[16]
A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey says that it is "of fairly unusual appearance, not at all typical of Anglesey churches in its stonework or the shape of the castelled tower".[12] It comments that the organ and vestry were in "unusually-shaped rooms", and notes the "ornate stained glass" of the Ascension.[12] A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region says that the church is "bolder" than John Welch's similarly designed church at Llandudno.[2] It describes the tower as "top-heavy with battlements... like a water tower", and adds that the seating is "crowded".[2]
References
- ^ a b c "Church in Wales: Benefices". Church in Wales. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-14169-6.
- ^ ISBN 1-85760-222-6.
- ^ National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ a b c Longueville Jones, Harry (October 1846). "Mona Mediaeva No. IV". Archaeologia Cambrensis. IV. Cambrian Archaeological Association: 429–434. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ a b Lewis, Samuel (1849). "Llanidan (Llan-Idan)". A Topographical Dictionary of Wales. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ^ Baring-Gould, Sabine; Fisher, John (1907). The lives of the British saints; the saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish saints as have dedications in Britain. Vol. 4. Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. pp. 14–16.
- ^ "Deanery of Tindaethwy and Menai: St Nidan, Llanidan". Church in Wales. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- Her Majesty's Stationery Office. p. 100.
- ^ Jones, E. Alfred (1906). The church plate of the Diocese of Bangor. Bemrose and Sons Ltd. p. 41.
- ^ ISBN 1-84527-089-4.
- ^ Roberts, Gomer Morgan (2001). "Hughes, John Edward". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ^ [1] CWGC Cemetery report, breakdown from casualty record.
- ^ a b c Longueville Jones, Harry (July 1863). "Mona Mediaeva No. XXIX". Archaeologia Cambrensis. Third. XXXV. Cambrian Archaeological Association: 260.
- ^ Tyrrell Green, E. (1929). "The Ecclesiology of Anglesey". Y Cymmrodor. XL. Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion: 81, 97.