St Eleth's Church, Amlwch is a parish church built in the
Neo-classical style in 1800 in
Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
, a town on the island of
Anglesey
Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
in north Wales. It stands on the site of earlier buildings, with the first church here said to have been established by
St Elaeth (or Eleth) in the 6th century. Increasing prosperity in the town through copper mining during the 18th century led to the construction of a new church to serve the growing population.
The church is still used for services within the
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...
, and is one of four churches in the parish of Amlwch. It is 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 ...
, a designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest",
[ because it is a "substantially Neo-classical church retaining much of its original architectural character".][
]
History and location
The first church in the area was reputedly established in the 6th century by Elaeth, or Eleth. He was a ruler from northern Britain who fled to Anglesey
Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
in north Wales when ousted from power, settling at St Seiriol's monastery at Penmon.
Amlwch grew and became increasingly prosperous during the 18th century after copper mining began at nearby Parys Mountain in 1768. As a result, the church became too small. Planning for a replacement church began in 1787 when Thomas Williams, "the Copper King", offered £600 (approximately £ in present-day terms). The Copper Mines Company provided the majority of the money required for the new church; Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, and the Reverend Edward Hughes (a co-owner of the mines) also made donations.[ Work eventually got underway and the church, designed by the architect ]James Wyatt
James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...
, was built and consecrated in 1800. Different figures for the cost of construction are given by two 19th-century writers: in 1833, Angharad Llwyd said that the cost was £4,000 (approximately £ in present-day terms) but in 1849, Samuel Lewis stated it to have been £2,500 (approximately £ in present-day terms).
The new church was constructed on the same site as earlier buildings, set back from the road on the east side of Queen Street in the town centre.[ Some internal alterations were made in 1867 under Henry Kennedy, the architect of the ]Diocese of Bangor
The Diocese of Bangor is a Diocese#Church of England and Anglican Communion, diocese of the Church in Wales in North West Wales. The diocese covers Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and the western part of Montgomeryshire.
His ...
: tracery
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...
was added to the windows, a 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 ...
arch and arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game
** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware
** Arcad ...
s inserted, and the galleries removed. Restoration took place in 1999 and 2000 under the architect Adam Voelcker, when a gallery at the west end, a baptistry
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...
and meeting rooms were added.[
The church is still used for services as part of the ]Church in Wales
The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...
. It is in the parish of Amlwch, which has three other churches in the surrounding area ( St Eilian, Llaneilian; St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo; and St Tyfrydog, Llandyfrydog). As of 2012, the priest in charge
A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...
is H. V. Jones. The parish is in the deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
of Twrcelyn, the archdeaconry
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...
of Bangor and the Diocese of Bangor.[
]
Architecture and fittings
The predominant style of the church is Neo-classical, although there are some Gothic elements.[ It is built from local stone, with courses of rubble and ]ashlar
Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
dressings; the roof is made of 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 ...
. There is a tower at the centre of the west end, which houses a clock and a bell-chamber behind large arched windows; it has a parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a 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/brea ...
with pinnacles at each corner.[ There are two bells, one dated 1687 and the other dated 1820.][ The arched doorway is set into the tower, with a circular window (an oculus) above it; the tracery in this window was added in the 19th century.][
Inside, the division of 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 ...
from the narrow 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 ...
was carried out in the 19th century through the addition of a chancel arch and creation of a chapel at the east end. Arcades were also added in the nave, to form aisles to either side. The inside of the roof is plastered. The east window contains 19th-century stained glass. There are memorial stones, mostly from the previous church on the site.[
The organ is 19th-century by Bevington and is housed in a gallery at the west end that was added in the restoration in 1999 and 2000. The font dates from 1900.][ Outside the church, the large ]lychgate
A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...
at the west of the churchyard dates from the early 19th century.[ Inside the churchyard, the gravestones have been moved to the side, possibly for ease of maintenance.][
]
Assessment
The church is 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 second-highest of the three grades of listing, designating "particularly important buildings of more than special interest". It was given this status on 25 October 1951, and has been listed because it is "a substantially Neo-classical church retaining much of its original architectural 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 ...
(the Welsh Assembly Government
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, of or about Wales
* Welsh language, spoken in Wales
* Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales
Places
* Welsh, Arkansas, U.S.
* Welsh, Louisiana, U.S.
* Welsh, Ohio, U.S.
* Welsh Basin, during t ...
body responsible for the built heritage of Wales) notes that the "lightness of its Victorian restoration left the original fabric and much of the detail intact, and traces changing
attitudes to church layout and style without obliterating the character of the original."[ It also states that the church is historically important for its links with copper mining.] The lychgate has also been given listed building status at the lowest level, Grade II (for buildings of national importance and special interest), because it is a "good early example" of a 19th-century lychgate of "characteristic local type" and because it forms a group with the adjacent church.
The 19th-century Welsh antiquarian Angharad Llwyd described the church as a "spacious handsome structure",[ and Samuel Lewis (a writer of ]topographical
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...
guides in the 19th century) described the church in very similar words as a "spacious and handsome structure"; he particularly noted the "lofty square embattled tower crowned with pinnacles." A 2009 guide to the buildings of north Wales describes the 19th-century alterations by Kennedy as "egregious", but says that the interior "possesses considerable grace", with the columns of the arcades being "touched by a breath of classicism".[ A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey describes it as "a good example of a tastefully restored church", and a "spacious, high sided building with an impressive tower".][ It also comments that its shape is not typical of churches on the island.][
]
References
External links
Photographs of the church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amlwch, Saint Eleth
Churches completed in 1800
Grade II* listed churches in Anglesey
18th-century Church in Wales church buildings
Church in Wales church buildings in Anglesey
Saint Eleth