St Mary's Church, Tal-y-llyn
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St Mary's Church, Tal-y-llyn is a medieval church near
Aberffraw Aberffraw is a village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey ( cy, Ynys Môn), in Wales, by the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The community includes Soar and Dothan. Located near the A4080 and the nearest ...
in
Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
, north Wales. It was originally a
chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...
for the
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, ...
of St Peulan's, Llanbeulan, but the township that it once served, Tal-y-llyn, no longer exists. It was declared a
redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a "closed church", is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churc ...
in the early 1990s, and has been in the care of the
Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As of April ...
since 1999. Services are held once per month during part of the year. The date of the church is unknown, but the oldest parts could be from the 12th century. The
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
was rebuilt in the 16th century, and a side chapel added in the 17th century. The church furnishings, such as pews, pulpit and communion rails, were added in the 18th century, although some of the pews are modern replacements after vandalism. It 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 ...
, a national designation given to buildings of "exceptional, usually national, interest", because it is "a very rare example of a virtually unrestored Medieval church of simple, rustic character."


History and location

St Mary's Church is in a rural and thinly populated part of Anglesey, about northeast of
Aberffraw Aberffraw is a village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey ( cy, Ynys Môn), in Wales, by the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The community includes Soar and Dothan. Located near the A4080 and the nearest ...
and about southwest of Gwalchmai. It stands on a low mound with a circumference of approximately ; the wall around the churchyard, which contains no gravestones, follows the shape of the mound to some extent. Its original purpose was to serve as one of five
chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...
for the local
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, ...
, St Peulan's, Llanbeulan, about to the north; St Peulan's itself has now closed. The township that St Mary's served, Tal-y-llyn, has now disappeared, although before the time of the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
there were 22 houses here. The date of foundation of the church is unknown. The
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
is the oldest part of the church, possibly built in the 12th century. Later changes saw the rebuilding of the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
(in the late 16th century) and the addition of a chapel on the south side of the building (in the 17th century). It was used for services until the early 1990s, and was then made a
redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a "closed church", is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churc ...
in about 1992. It was placed in the care of the
Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As of April ...
in 1999, who hold a 999-year
lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
effective from 19 November 1999. Services are held in the church on one Sunday afternoon per month between May and October.


Architecture and fittings

The church was constructed using
rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an inn ...
with boulder
quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...
. The floor is laid with
flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other con ...
s throughout, and the roof has modern
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. ...
s. The nave measures , the chancel measures 16 feet 6 inches by 11 feet (5.03 by 3.47 m), and the chapel adjoining the chancel on the south side is . Between the nave and chancel is a pointed arch, with some 13th-century elements but probably reconstructed in the 16th century. The side chapel has rectangular windows in the east and west walls from the 17th century; a narrow stone bench runs along the west and south walls of the chapel. The roof
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es, which date from the 15th and 17th centuries, are visible inside the building and the undersides are
chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...
ed. There are two rectangular windows in the north wall of the nave (20th century additions), matching the window in the north wall of the chancel. The east window, in the chancel, has three rounded lights set in a square frame; it dates from the latter part of the 16th century. The windows still have their clear leaded glass but are now boarded up. There are no windows on the south side, which is the most exposed side. There is an empty
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 ...
on the roof at the west end of the nave. The entrance is also at the west end, where there is a rounded arch doorway set deep into the thick wall, possibly dating from the 14th century. The 12th-century font was removed when the church was made redundant; it is now in the nearby church of St Maelog, Llanfaelog. The church now houses a 15th-century octagonal font made of
gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for pa ...
, positioned on an octagonal stem. The communion rails are dated 1764 and is of a simple design; the pulpit, also 18th-century, has recessed panels. There are stone benches along the north and south walls of the nave. Many of the pews, which dated from the 18th century, were vandalised or stolen after the church was made redundant. Replacements were made by a local craftsman as part of the restoration project carried out in 1999 and 2000 by the Friends of Friendless Churches.


Assessment

St Mary's has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated 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 ...
– the highest grade of listing, designating buildings of "exceptional, usually national, interest". Fewer than 2% of the listed buildings in Wales are in this category. It was given this status on 5 April 1971, because it is "a very rare example of a virtually unrestored Medieval church of simple, rustic character."
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 ...
(the
Welsh Assembly Government 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 peopl ...
body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also note as a reason for listing "the retention of a complete set of 18th century fittings, including simple benches", although this comment predates the 1990s vandalism. One modern guide to the buildings of the region comments that it has "the vernacular character of Anglesey's country buildings, which survives scarcely at all in the churches." The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis, however, took a different view of the building, calling it "a small edifice of no interest".


References


External links


Photographs of the church (interior and exterior)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tal-Y-Llyn, Saint Mary Grade I listed churches in Anglesey 12th-century church buildings in Wales Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches Aberffraw