St Figael'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 ...

in the hamlet of Llanfigael,

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 ...

, Wales. It has been 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 ...

, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. The church is considered by Cadw to be particularly notable because of its "retaining its early 19th-century interior virtually intact".

History

The present church is thought to date from the 18th century, and it was much rebuilt in 1841. A church has been documented on this site since 1254. The only fabric possibly surviving from this earlier church is to be found in the foundations and part of the walls. Since it was declared redundant, the charity the Friends of Friendless Churches has held 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 ...

, which was transferred to them on 1 February 2007. After taking it over, the charity has organised the re-covering of the roof, and has re-introduced timber windows designed by Tim Ratcliffe, their design being based on the pre-existing windows.

Architecture

It is a small rectangular church 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 ...

. At the west end is a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d rendered bellcote. The doorway is at the west end of the south side, and there is no

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 ...

. The fittings are thought to date from the 19th century. 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 on the north side of the church; elsewhere there 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 and benches. At the west end are three

fonts In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, 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) inclu ...

; the oldest dates from the 12th century, and was formerly in the church of St Ynghenedl; the next dates from the 14th century, and is octagonal in shape; while the third is a "rare cupboard font".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Figaels Church Llanfigael Llanfigael, St Figael Llanfigael, St Figael Figael Llanfigael Llanfigael Llanfachraeth