St Cynhaearn's Church is 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 churche ...

standing in an isolated position on Ynyscynhaearn, a former island in Llyn (Lake) Ystumllyn, south of the village of Pentrefelin, near

Criccieth Criccieth, also spelled Cricieth (), is a town and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales, on the boundary between the Llŷn Peninsula and Eifionydd. The town is west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It had a ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, Wales. It 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 ...

as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The church is approached from the village by an ancient

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

, and is in the care of the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches (FoFC) 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 ...

History

The church is dedicated to Cynhaiarn, a 5th-century saint. It was originally the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

for

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

. Its

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 ...

dates from the 12th century, and the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

was added in the 16th century. The south transept was built in 1622. Most of the interior fittings are Georgian in style and date from 1832. It came into the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2003, since when repair work has been undertaken.

Architecture

Structure

It is constructed in stone

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

, with the walls of the nave and the east side of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

being

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

. The roofs are of 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 ro ...

s. Its plan consists of a short nave, north and south transepts, and a short

. At the west end is 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 ...

. The entrance is through a west door. The windows in the nave and transepts have two lights, and at the east end are three

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s. The interior is plastered above a timber dado. The floor of the body of the church is stone-flagged, and there is a painted floor in the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

. At the west end is a gallery.

Fittings and furniture

Dating from 1832, the

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, accesse ...

is a three-decker, approached by nine steps, below which is a

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

with a reading shelf, and under this is the reader's desk. On each side of the altar are

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 c ...

s. The gallery is supported on slender columns. The chamber organ by Flight and Robson dates from 1834 and was given by a Mrs Walker; it cost £30 (). It has a Gothic style case. On each side of it are six steeply raked pews and many carry the names of the families who used them.Befriend a church
BBC North Wales, accessed 5 August 2010 One of the pews is curtained off for mothers to feed their babies. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

stands on an octagonal pillar of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and was erected in 1900. There are also a number of memorials. The stained glass includes windows by

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained-glass window manufacturers. As Whitefriars Glass, the company existed from the 18th century, but became well kno ...

dated 1899 and 1906.

Memorials

An earlier grave records the early passing of

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

(1712–1741), a local blind composer and

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing ...

who was known as "

Dafydd y Garreg Wen Dafydd is a Welsh masculine given name, related to David (name), David, and more rarely a surname. People so named include: Given name Medieval era :''Ordered chronologically'' * Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (1203), Prince of Gwynedd * Dafydd ap Gruffyd ...

" or David of the White Rock, as he came from Garreg Wen (White Rock) Farm. Owen wrote a tune called

allegedly on his deathbed after calling for his harp. Amongst the memorials is one to John Ystumllyn (d. 1786), also known as Jack Black. He was a black man brought back from Africa by a member of the Wynne family who lived at Ystumllyn, which can be seen from the church. It was fashionable at the time to have a black servant, and he was eventually given his own house. He had seven children and died at the end of the 18th century. Local people claim him as their ancestor. There is a memorial to James Spooner (1790–1856), the surveyor who built the

Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway () is a heritage railway based on Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia#Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia National Park. The ...

and members of his family, including his daughter, the novelist Louisa Matilda Spooner (1820–1886), in the form of a stone urn surrounded by iron railings. It is located alongside the boundary wall, to the right when facing the church from the gate. There are also graves commemorating a range of local tradespeople, including a baker and a confectioner.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ynyscynhaearn, Saint Cynhaearns 12th-century church buildings in Wales Churches completed in 1622 17th-century church buildings in Wales Grade II* listed churches in Gwynedd Former churches in Wales Georgian architecture in Wales Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches Churchyards in Wales Dolbenmaen