St Garmon's Church is in the centre of the village of

Llanarmon-yn-Iâl Llanarmon-yn-Iâl is a village, and local government community, in Denbighshire, Wales, lying in limestone country in the valley of the River Alyn. The community is part of an electoral ward called Llanarmon-yn-Iâl/Llandegla. The population o ...

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. It is an active Anglican 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 i ...

, the archdeaconry of St Asaph and the deanery of Dyffryn Clwyd. It is designated by Cadw 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

The church dates from 1282; a second nave was added about 1450. Much of the church was rebuilt in 1736. Around that time, Edward Whetnall, a carpenter from

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, replaced the stone

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

between the two naves with an arcade in timber. In 1759 a gallery was built at the west end of the south nave, and it was extended in 1781. It is likely that the porch was enlarged in 1774. In 1870 the church was restored by John Douglas, adding some

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style windows and bracing to the

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...

. The

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...

s were also removed, and it is likely that the gallery was removed at this time. There were further restorations in 1906, in the late 1920s, and in the 1970s.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in stone, mainly

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with some

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. The roof is of slates with grey ridge tiles. Its plan consists of a double nave. The north nave is wider than the south and at its east end is the chancel. The south nave acts as an aisle, with its east end partitioned to act as a vestry. There is a south porch and a

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 ...

at the west end over the north nave. The porch has a ball finial and sandstone ridge tiles. The bellcote has apertures for two bells. The division between the north nave and the chancel is marked by a

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 buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

. The medieval arch-braced roofs are still present. Some round-headed windows remain from the 1736 restoration. Other windows are Gothic in style and probably date from Douglas' restoration.

Interior

Inside the church is a baluster font dated 1734 and a pulpit which has been attributed to Douglas. The brass chandelier dates from the 15th or early 16th century, and contains a figure of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

in a

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

. Two of the monuments date from the early 14th century and another is dated 1639. The Royal Arms date from 1740.

External features

The church is in the middle of a churchyard which is almost square with rounded corners, overlooking the

River Alyn The River Alyn ( cy, Afon Alun) is a tributary of the River Dee, in north-east Wales. The River Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding N ...

. In the churchyard is the shaft of a churchyard cross which was converted into a sundial in 1774. The churchyard also contains the war grave of a soldier 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llanarmon-Yn-Ial, St Garmon's Church