St Collen's Church is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the town of

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beau ...

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The first church on the site was founded by

Collen Collen was a 7th-century monk who gave his name to Llangollen (from the Welsh language, Welsh Llan place name element, llan meaning 'enclosure' and ''gollen'' being a consonant mutation, mutation of "Collen"). Collen is said to have arrived ...

in the 6th century. Nothing of this building remains. A new church was built in the 13th century, in the

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

style. This was developed in the succeeding centuries, and then almost completely rebuilt in the 19th century. The architect of the Victorian reconstruction was

Samuel Pountney Smith Samuel Pountney Smith JP (2 November 1812Obituary. Date stated to be his birthday. – 5 November 1883) was an English architect who practised in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Smith was a native of Munslow, where he was baptised on 17 De ...

, who retained little of the earlier church, with the exception of the tower. The churchyard contains the grave of the

Ladies of Llangollen The "Ladies of Llangollen", Eleanor Butler (1739–1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831), were two upper-class Irish women whose relationship scandalised and fascinated their contemporaries. The pair moved to a Gothic house in Llangollen, No ...

, Eleanor Charlotte Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, and their servant

Mary Carryl Mary Carryl (Unknown22 November 1809) was an Irish-born loyal servant and friend of the celebrated Ladies of Llangollen. She served them up to her death; and when the Ladies died, they shared the same grave. Life Carryl was brought up in a poor ...

, who lived at the nearby Plas Newydd. In November 2021 the first

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...

of a gay partnership in a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

church was held at St Collen's. The church is an active parish church in the

Diocese of St Asaph The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese of the Church in Wales in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop. Geography The Anglican Diocese of St Asaph in the north-east corner of Wales stretches from the borders of Chester in ...

. 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 s ...

as a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

History

was a monk from

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

who is reputed to have arrived in

in a

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the West Country and in Ireland, particularly the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used of s ...

and founded the first church on the site in the 6th century. It is the only church in Wales with a dedication to Saint Collen. In the 13th century, a new church was built on the site and developed further in the following centuries. Of this building, the major remaining element is the tower, which dates from the 18th century. The Welsh poet

Gruffudd Hiraethog Gruffudd Hiraethog (died 1564) was a 16th century Welsh language poet, born in Llangollen, north-east Wales. Gruffudd was one of the foremost poets of the sixteenth century to use the cywydd metre. He was a prolific author and gifted scholar. Tho ...

(died 1564), who was born in the town, is buried in the vault of the church. In the early 19th century, the church was the place of worship of Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the

, whose house, Plas Newydd, was situated just outside of the town. They are buried in the churchyard. Between 1864 and 1867 the church was almost completely rebuilt by

. St Collen's remains an active parish church in the

. On 13 November 2021, the church was the first in Wales to hold a

for a

same-sex partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

, following a change to

rules in September 2021. The ceremony, for the vicar of St Collen's Father Lee Taylor and his partner, was conducted by

Gregory Cameron Gregory Kenneth Cameron (born 6 June 1959) is a Welsh Anglican bishop. He is Bishop of the Diocese of St Asaph in Wales, having been elected on 5 January 2009 and confirmed as bishop on 16 March 2009. Life and career Cameron was born in sout ...

, the

Bishop of St Asaph The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is loca ...

Architecture

Structure

The 13th-century church was of a double-nave design. Little of this building now remains, although a fragment of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

stone

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

has been incorporated into the current structure. The unusual arrangement whereby part of the church forms part of the churchyard boundary may also reflect its medieval origins. The present church is mainly the work of Smith, who undertook a mid-Victorian reconstruction. The 18th-century tower was retained on grounds of cost. The building has triple

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

s and is constructed of coursed

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary ...

with a

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 rock. ...

roof. The tower has four storeys and the architectural historian

Edward Hubbard Edward Horton Hubbard (2 July 1937 – 31 May 1989) was an English architectural historian who worked with Nikolaus Pevsner in compiling volumes of the ''Buildings of England''. He also wrote the definitive biography of John Douglas, and played ...

, in his 2003 ''Clwyd'' volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales, records its urn-like

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s. The internal

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams pr ...

in the nave has elaborate

wood carving Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

and is reputed to have been brought from

Valle Crucis Abbey Valle Crucis Abbey (Valley of the Cross) is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio in Denbighshire, Wales. More formally ''the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis'' it is known in Welsh both as ''Abaty Glyn Egwestl'' and ''A ...

, but both

and Hubbard doubt this attribution. This roof, and another in the north aisle, are medieval and feature

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

motifs and imagery. The church is a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

Fittings and furniture

The church contains an important series of Victorian stained glass by, among others,

Alexander Gibbs Alexander Gibbs & Co. was a British stained glass studio founded in 1858 by Alexander Gibbs when he split off from the family firm founded by his father Isaac Alexander Gibbs in 1848. The studio continued until 1915. It was first located at 38 ...

, Done & Davies and William Holland. The font also dates from the reconstruction. Hubbard describes it as "gigantic and exuberant". The

RCAHMW The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectura ...

survey notes the "finely carved"

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

and

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

Associated structures

Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby met in 1768 and left their native

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

a decade later to escape the threat of

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

s. Setting up home just outside of Llangollen, they maintained a near 60-year partnership which both fascinated and scandalised 19th-century Britain. On the death of their servant

in 1809, the women erected a tomb for her in the churchyard at St Collen's. It was designed by Thomas Parker. They were interred in the tomb on their own deaths in 1829 and 1831. The monument is a Grade II listed structure. A sundial in the churchyard and a wall to the north of the church are also listed at Grade II.

Gallery

St. Collen's Church, Llangollen.jpg, Church and

lych gate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

Eglwys Sant Collen, Llangollen, Cymru St. Collen's Parish Church, Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. 17.JPG, Ceiling of the nave Eglwys Sant Collen, Llangollen, Cymru St. Collen's Parish Church, Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. 26.JPG, Memorial in the church to the

St.Collen - Auferstehungsfenster 4 Engel mit Harfe.jpg, Victorian stained glass
Monument to the Ladies of Llangollen and their housekeeper 03.jpg, Tomb of Eleanor Butler, Sarah Ponsonby and

St.Collen - Ladies of Llangollen 2.jpg, Inscription commemorating Eleanor Butler Eglwys Sant Collen, Llangollen, Cymru St. Collen's Parish Church, Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. 47.JPG, Inscription commemorating Sarah Ponsonby Monument to the Ladies of Llangollen and their housekeeper 02.jpg, Inscription commemorating Mary Carryl

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, St Collen's Church, Llangollen
Stained Glass in Wales entry for St Collen's Church
13th-century church buildings in Wales Grade I listed churches in Denbighshire Grade II listed buildings in Denbighshire