St Mary's Church, Cilcain, is in the village of

Cilcain Cilcain is a village and community, near Mold in Flintshire, north-east Wales. The village has an industrial history and includes the Millennium Woods, a post office, a public house, a parish church, a primary school (Ysgol y Foel) and a village ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, Wales. It is an active Anglican church in the Bro Famau group of parishes, in the Mold Mission Area, in the archdeaconry of Wrexham and the diocese of St Asaph. The church is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.

History

The earliest documentary record of the church is in the Lincoln Taxation of 1291 although it is believed that its origin was in the

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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

period. In the 15th century the south nave and tower were added. As a result of a fire in 1532 the north nave was burnt down and it remained without a roof until it was rebuilt in 1746. It is thought that at this time the ornate timber roof was added to the south nave. The tradition is that this came from

Basingwerk Abbey Basingwerk Abbey ( cy, Abaty Dinas Basing) is a Grade I listed ruined abbey near Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. The abbey, which was founded in the 12th century, belonged to the Order of Cistercians. It maintained significant lands in the Englis ...

but there is no evidence to support this. Also at this time a priest's door in the south wall was blocked and it is possible that a west gallery was constructed. In 1845–46 restoration work took place under the direction of

Ambrose Poynter Ambrose Poynter (16 May 1796 – 20 November 1886) was a British architect. He was one of the founding members of the Institute of British Architects in 1834. Early life Born in London on 16 May 1796, he was second son of Ambrose Lyon Poynter ...

. A more substantial restoration was carried out by the Chester architect John Douglas between 1888 and 1889 which was paid for by William Barber Buddicom, a railway engineer. During this restoration, plaster was removed from the walls, a screen was placed between the naves and the pews were replaced. The south porch was rebuilt,

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 ( ...

es were added to the tower, the brickwork on the top of the tower was removed and replaced by stone, and a new window was inserted into the west face of the tower. Windows were renewed on the east, west and south sides of the church, and the organ loft and west gallery were removed. A partition was added to the east end of the north nave to form a vestry and to include the organ. A cellar was built at the west end of the north nave to accommodate heating apparatus. In 1935–37 repairs to the roof were carried out under the direction of F. H. Crossley.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in stone of a variety of types, with a slate roof. Some of the fabric from the 13th century church survives in the north nave. The plan consists of a double nave with a tower at the west end of the north nave, and a south porch. The tower has stepped diagonal buttresses at the west corners and a clasping buttress at the northeast angle. On its north wall is a door under a round-headed arch. The tower is surmounted by a

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

, a low pyramidal roof and a

weathercock A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

Interior

The roof of the south nave has alternating arch-braced and

hammerbeam 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 ...

trusses. It is decorated with angels, shields,

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

s and other secular subjects. Furnishings designed by Douglas include the pews, the stalls and the screens in the

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 * ...

. The east window contains stained glass which is said to be dated 1546; it depicts the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

. In the church are boards painted with the Creed and the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

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 ...

, dated 1809. Of the monuments, one is dated 1731, and another 1832.

External features

The churchyard is oval in shape and contains the base of an old cross and the stone

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

of a former sundial. To the east of the church is a

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 ...

, adjoining which is a hearse house dating from about 1810. The hearse house, together with the churchyard walls and the lych gate were designated as a Grade II listed building on 16 October 1995.

References