St Michael's Church, Trelawnyd, is in the village of Trelawnyd, Flintshire, Wales. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church in the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Dyserth and Trelawnyd and Cwm, the deanery of St Asaph, the archdeaconry of St Asaph, and the diocese of St Asaph. The church 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 II* listed building.

History

The first documentary reference to the church is in 1291 but the present church was not built until 1724. During a restoration in 1863 a gallery was added to the west end, the roof was re-slated and the walls were plastered. In 1895–97 a major restoration was carried out by the Chester firm of Douglas and Fordham when the plaster and the gallery were removed, and a new east window was installed. The other windows were replaced, and a new

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, lectern and pews were added. The arch of the porch was replaced, a stone cross was added to the east gable and the bell

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

was remodelled. In 1917 a vestry was added to the north side of the church by the same firm of architects, now known as Douglas, Minshall and Muspratt.

Architecture

Structure

The church is built in limestone with sandstone dressings. The roof is of slate with stone ridge tiles. Its plan consists of a nave and chancel in one chamber, a south porch, a north vestry and a bellcote with a single bell at the west.

Fittings and furniture

In the vestry is a 14th-century sepulchral slab, which is set upside-down. The stained glass in the east window is by Hemming and dates from 1897. A window in the north wall was dedicated on Ascension Day 1930. A pair of windows in the chancel, made by

Shrigley and Hunt Shrigley and Hunt was an English firm which produced stained-glass windows and art tiles. History The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire. In 1868, control of Shrigley's ...

, was dedicated in 1969. The octagonal

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

consists of a medieval bowl set in a modern base. The oak cover dates was added in 1968. The lectern was given in 1899, the altar in 1929, and the

was bought from Kinmel School in 1936. The organ, built by the Positive Organ Company, was installed in 1920 and electrified in 1951–52.

External features

In the churchyard is a preaching cross dating from the 14th century which is a scheduled ancient monument. A square plinth is set on a circular concrete base. In this is set a sandstone

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 shaft, rectangular in cross-section, which is about 3.5m high. On the head are cinquefoil panels, those on the east and west sides containing depictions of the Crucifixion. Also in the churchyard are four structures listed at Grade II. To the south of the porch of the church is a

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

dated 1768. It consists of a

baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

on a circular plinth carrying a circular table with an octagonal brass sundial. To the west of the tower is an 18th-century monument in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style marking the site of the Nerquis Hall vault. It is in white marble and consists of an altar-tomb on a plinth, with memorial plaques. On the top is a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

decorated with gadrooning, and with a ball

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. Also in the churchyard is a former 19th-century bier-house. It is built in stone and brick and has a corrugated iron roof. The building is in a single storey, and has a doorway and two ventilation slits, now blocked. The churchyard gates and walls are also listed. The gate

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

are simple and in sandstone with conical caps. The gates are in wrought iron and decorated with fleur-de-lis and arrow motifs. There is also a smaller pedestrian gateway in similar style.

References