St Mark's Church, Brithdir, is a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a closed church, is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churche ...

in the hamlet of Brithdir,

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, Wales. It is designated by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and is under the care of the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches (FoFC) is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As ...

. It is considered to be one of the finest

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

churches in Wales.

History

The building of the church started in 1895; it was completed in 1898 and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 26 April. The church was designed by

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a United States Senate, senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...

who was a "leading figure of the Arts and Crafts Movement". It was commissioned by Mrs Louisa Tooth in memory of her second husband Charles Tooth, who had been chaplain and founder of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

St Mark's English Church, Florence and a brother of

Arthur Tooth Arthur Tooth (17 June 1839 – 5 March 1931) was a ritualism, ritualist priest in the Church of England and a member of the Society of the Holy Cross. Tooth is best known for being prosecuted in 1876 under the Public Worship Regulation Ac ...

and Burton upon Trent and Australian based brewers Robert Tooth, Edwin Tooth (1822–1858) and Frederick Tooth (1827–1893). Louisa Tooth was the daughter of Edward Lloyd Edward whose family owned Cerrig Llwydion Hall in Denbighshire. Her first husband was Richard Meredyth Richards a JP and high sheriff for the county of

Merionethshire Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is a ...

. Since being declared redundant, it has been in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in brick, and faced with local grey-green

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone; it has

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofs. The "external stonework was intended to be left 'untooled' (rough)", because the architect "wished the church to appear as if it had sprung out of the soil, instead of being planted down on it". Its plan consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with north and south porches, and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

with north and south

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

. In the west end are two tiers of

ogee An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...

-headed windows. Between the windows in the upper tier is a cross in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

. There are similar windows, asymmetrically placed, on the north and south sides of the church. On the roof, in a position to the west of the transepts, is a two-tier

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

. In its lower tier is a round-headed arch containing the bell, with a smaller round-arched opening above. At the east end is a stepped

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

containing a round-arched

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

, on each side of which is an ogee-headed window.

Interior

The interior of the church is rendered and painted, with "rich warm red" nave walls, a blue nave roof and "warm cream, almost a yellow" colour for the chancel. The nave has three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

roof; its ceiling is canted and has a plain

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

. The north and south doors are in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style. These are constructed in oak and teak in chevron designs, and have

mother-of-pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

decoration at the points of the chevrons. The lead

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

has a circular bowl carried on an octagonal column. It was cast at the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Crafts. ...

in London, and is decorated with leaf patterns and Christian

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

s. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

and

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

were designed by Wilson, and are constructed from beaten and moulded copper. They are in Arts and Crafts style, the pulpit being decorated with grapes and texts from the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

. The chancel is

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: La ...

ed. The north transept contains an organ and in the south transept is a gallery. The stalls in the chancel are made from Spanish chestnut; they were designed by Wilson and carved by Arthur Grove with

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from and . In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It can also be defined as art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal or art ...

images. These include a hare, a tortoise, squirrels, rabbits, an owl, a mouse, a kingfisher, and a dolphin. The altar rails contain panels between large posts. The altar frontal was designed by Wilson; it is in cast copper and contains figurative panels. These depict, on the left, the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

with the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and a dove facing a kneeling angel and, on the extreme right, the Rev Tooth and his

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...

. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

is also in beaten copper; it depicts a

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

springing from a

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

, and at the sides are bluebells springing from the monogram "IHS". The single- manual organ was built by Peter Conacher of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

in 1901.

Churchyard

The churchyard contains the Commonwealth war grave of a

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

officer of the First World War.

Critique

The church is listed Grade I by Cadw because it is "a highly important and unaltered example of the work of Henry Wilson, a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts Movement. St Mary's 'sic'' Brithdir ranks amongst his major works in Britain". It is "an exceptionally important and advanced work for its date". The church is considered to be "one of the few full blooded Arts and Crafts churches in Wales", and "one of the pre-eminent churches of the Arts and Crafts Movement". "The interior decoration and fittings are arguably the most complete and high-quality Arts and Crafts work in Wales."

Gallery

;Inside File:Interior of St Mark's Church, Brithdir, Gwynedd.JPG, Interior File:Font in St Mark's Church, Brithdir, Gwynedd.JPG, Font File:Left side of the altar of St Mark's Church, Brithdir, Gwynedd.JPG, Left side of altar panel about Charles Tooth, brother of

File:Altar panel in St Mark's Church, Brithdir, Gwynedd.JPG, Altar panel showing its relation to

;Outside Eglwys Sant Marc Brithdir ger Dolgellau Gwynedd St Mark's Church, Brithdir Gwynedd Wales 02.JPG, Church front Eglwys Sant Marc Brithdir ger Dolgellau Gwynedd St Mark's Church, Brithdir Gwynedd Wales 07.JPG, Arts and Crafts style on straps Eglwys Sant Marc Brithdir ger Dolgellau Gwynedd St Mark's Church, Brithdir Gwynedd Wales 100.JPG, Old yew tree with new growth Eglwys Sant Marc Brithdir ger Dolgellau Gwynedd St Mark's Church, Brithdir Gwynedd Wales 102.tif, Back Eglwys Sant Marc Brithdir ger Dolgellau Gwynedd St Mark's Church, Brithdir Gwynedd Wales 105.JPG, Bell tower and back of church Eglwys Sant Marc Brithdir ger Dolgellau Gwynedd St Mark's Church, Brithdir Gwynedd Wales 16.JPG, Porch

References

External links

Artwork at St Mark's Church, Brithdir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marks Church, Brithdir Brithdir, St Mark Brithdir, St Mark Arts and Crafts architecture in Wales Churches completed in 1898 Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches Brithdir and Llanfachreth Art Nouveau architecture in Wales 1898 establishments in Wales Brithdir Brithdir Art Nouveau church buildings in the United Kingdom