Llanynys
Llanynys (; ) is a hamlet and community (Llanynys and Rhewl Community Council) in Denbighshire, north-east Wales; (OS grid reference: SJ1062). It lies in the Vale of Clwyd, a few miles north of Ruthin
Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market to ...
,
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
Grade I
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
on 19 July 1966 (Cadw Building ID: 808). Between 2013 and 2015 £2.5 million was spent preserving the church, which has one of the finest medieval paintings in
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
. The church's former importance is today evidenced in the sheer size of the interior which is large and spacious; it had close links with the Bishops of Bangor, who were its "rectors" or owners. Like many Denbighshire churches it is double-naved and has a fine pair of the characteristically local late-medieval hammerbeam roofs. The fluted timber pillars between the naves are more unusual, and much later, dating from a restoration in 1768.
The church was founded in the 6th century, but the site may be of Celtic origin, and was home to a clas or religious community; it was the mother church of southern
Dyffryn Clwyd
Dyffryn Clwyd was a cantref of Medieval Wales and from 1282 a marcher lordship. In 1536, it became part of the new county of Denbighshire. The name means Vale of Clwyd in English and is still the name for that region of north Wales in modern Welsh ...
(the Vale of Clwyd). Unusually, it was dedicated to Saint Saeran, a Celtic bishop-saint who also gave his name to
Ffynnon Sara
Ffynnon Sara is a Grade II listed building in the community of Derwen, Denbighshire, Wales, which dates back to the 6th century. It is listed by Cadw (Reference Number 24347).www.medieval-wales.com accessed 19 July 2015
Saint Saeran
Little is known of Saeran. He is first mentioned in MSE (appendix) of 'Bonedd y Saint', which exists handwritten by
Guto'r Glyn
Guto'r Glyn (c. 1412 – c. 1493) was a Welsh language poet and soldier of the era of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'' ("Poets of the Nobility") or ''Cywyddwyr'' ("cywydd-men"), the itinerant professional poets of the later Middle Ages. He is consid ...
in 1455. He was the son of Geraint Saer of Ireland. ''Saer'' is the
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
for "wright" or "carpenter" and the ending "-an" is a diminutive: "Saer the Younger".
The battered tomb effigy of a priest may be Bishop ap Richard of Bangor (who died here in 1267) while the figure of a mitred bishop on the hexagonal stone may represent Saint Saeran himself. Crozier in hand, the little figure is apparently standing on a muzzled bear, and on the stone's reverse is a crucifixion scene. It stood until recently in the churchyard, and perhaps marked the saint's tomb or shrine: said to be of the 14th century, it could be much older.
The wall painting
Directly opposite the door is the most significant work in St Saeran's, a huge 15th-century mural of Saint Christopher. The painting was rediscovered under plaster in 1967; this rare survival is much the finest medieval wall painting in North Wales. The saint – according to legend a giant who served as a ferryman – is shown carrying the infant Christ across a river, with a flowering staff in his hand and a shoal of fish round his feet. The patron saint of travellers, Christopher ("Christ-bearer") was often painted opposite church doorways, where wayfarers could easily glimpse his image and thus (it was believed) be preserved from "fainting or falling" all that day. The belief lives on in the Saint Christophers of modern key-rings and car dashboards.
Other similar paintings include:
File:Piddington StNicholas StChristopher.JPG, St Nicholas, Piddington, Oxfordshire
ThorpeM StJohnB StChristopherDetail.jpg, St John the Baptist, Thorpe Mandeville, Northamptonshire