Eglwys Sant Mihangel a Sant Sulien Corwen Sir Ddinbych 15

Saint Mael and Saint Sulien's Church is a church located in the town of

Corwen Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen is part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llango ...

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 ...

. It was formerly in the ancient county of

Merionethshire , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

Architecture

The church itself dates from the twelfth century and is a single-chambered structure set within a rectangular churchyard, with walls of fourteenth- or fifteenth-century origin. Its

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century and the churchyard includes a tomb from the seventeenth century, besides

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

of two soldiers of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Details obtained from casualty record.

Dedication

The church is dedicated to Maël (saint), St Mael and St Sulien, two

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic saints of the sixth century, though it has been suggested that an earlier foundation stood on the hill above. Saints Mael and Sulien are said to have been companions of the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

Saint Cadfan Saint Cadfan ( la, Catamanus), sometimes Anglicized as Gideon, was the 6th century founder-abbot of Tywyn (whose church is dedicated to him) and Bardsey, both in Gwynedd, Wales. He was said to have received the island of Bardsey from Saint E ...

(c. 530-ca. 590), who led a group of missionaries to Western Wales with Saint Tydecho, a cousin, and Saint

Cynllo Saint Cynllo () is a British saint, who lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries, generally described as a brother of Saint Teilo. Cynllo was known for "...the sanctity of his life and the austerity of his manners." Life Cynllo is various ...

, a friend. They were also accompanied by nine children of

Ithel Hael Ithel Hael or Ithel Hael o Lydaw was a prince of Armorica who lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the father of Baglan, Flewyn, Gredifael, Tanwg, Twrog, Tegai, Trillo, Tecwyn and Llechid, saints who accompanied Cadfan Cadf ...

o Lydaw ( Baglan, Flewyn, Gredifael, Tanwg, Twrog, Tegai, Trillo, Tecwyn and Llechid), all of whom became saints in the calendar of the Welsh church. One of them, St Trillo, founded a church just outside Corwen at Llandrillo. There was a

Saint Sulien Saint Sulien, Sulian, or Silin was the reputed 6th-century founder-abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan in Cornwall. His feast day is 29 July. There have probably been other Christian Celtic saints with the same (or similar) name, and a variant ...

or Sulian who was abbot of

Luxulyan Luxulyan (; kw, Logsulyan), also spelt Luxullian or Luxulian, is a village and civil parish in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village lies four miles (6.5 km) northeast of St Austell and six miles (10 km) south of Bodmin. ...

, in mid

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, during the sixth century. Sulien is a Welsh variant of the given name "Julian," but has also been interpreted as being derived from the Welsh ''sul'', meaning "sun" + ''geni'', meaning "born," Sulien being the name of a Celtic

solar deity A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...

Services

St Mael and St Sulien's offers services in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

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 ...

The College

In 1709 the wealthy land-owner and benefactor William Eyton established ''Coleg y Groes'' ( en, Holy Cross College), attached to St Mael and St Sulien's Church. The College still stands. Eyton established the College as a community of widows, with the intention of providing both an

alms house An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

for the residents, and a community of daily prayer attached to the church. Entrance to the College was through the churchyard, with no direct road access (although secondary access is now provided). The College has a central reception and bakehouse room, beyond which are six individual residences on two storeys (of the one-up, one-down style). Eyton specified that each of the six residences was to be occupied by the widow of a Clerk in holy orders, who must have been a clergyman of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

(the Welsh Anglican church was not yet independent of England in 1750), who had been "in possession of a cure of souls" (in office) within the County of Merioneth at the time of his death. Today the original College building is in good order, and easily accessible by means of a path from the church or an independent access. It is in use as a retreat centre, and its original layout is largely intact. It is a grade II* listed building.Listin
status

References

External links