St Marcella's Church was the original

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 ...

Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...

, in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Located about a mile east of the centre of the town, the church is dedicated to Saint Marchell (Marcella), a Welsh saint of the 5th/6th centuries. Although with earlier origins, the present church dates to the founding of Denbigh and the building of

Denbigh Castle Denbigh Castle and town walls ( ; ) were built to control the lordship of Denbigh after the Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England in 1282. The lands were granted to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who began to build a new walled town, col ...

Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1251February 1311), Baron of Pontefract, Lord of Bowland, Baron of Halton and hereditary Constable of Chester, was an Kingdom of England, English nobleman and confidant of King Edward I of England, Edward I. He ...

in around 1290. Most of the current structure dates from a major rebuilding in about 1500. St Marcella's was superseded as the parish church of the town in the 19th century by the more centrally located St Hilary's Chapel. It remains an active church in the

Diocese of St Asaph The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese of the Church in Wales in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop. Geography The Anglican Diocese of St Asaph in the north-east corner of Wales stretches from the borders of Cheste ...

and is a

Grade I 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 ...

History

The Church of St Marcella stands on the Whitchurch Road, about a mile south-east of the town of

. It is dedicated to Saint Marcella the virgin (Marchell), a Welsh saint of the 5th or 6th centuries, who was the sister of

Tyfrydog Tyfrydog (sometimes given as Tyvrydog) was a Christian from north-west Wales in the fifth or sixth century, who was later venerated as a saint. He is said to have established a church in Anglesey, and although no part of the original structure re ...

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 ...

suggests that the dedication references the site of a 7th-century cell. The current church dates from the founding of Denbigh and the building of

in around 1290. Little remains of this church and the present building dates almost entirely from a reconstruction of around 1500. Among the burials at the church is that of

Twm o'r Nant Twm o'r Nant ('Tom from the Brook') was the pseudonym of a Welsh language dramatist and poet, Thomas Edwards (January 1739 – 3 April 1810), also known as ''Tom of the Dingle''. He was famous for ''anterliwtau'' (interludes or short plays), wh ...

, the Welsh poet, who died in 1810; the church also contains a memorial to him. St Marcella's was replaced as the town's parish church in the 19th century by the more centrally located St Hilary's Chapel. It was restored in that century, and again in the 20th. It remains an active parish church in the

and occasional services are held.

Architecture

The church is built to a double-nave plan, with a west tower and a south porch. The architectural historian Edward Hubbard, in his 2003 ''Clwyd'' volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales, considers it one of the best examples of the type in the

Vale of Clwyd The Vale of Clwyd () is a tract of low-lying ground in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The Vale extends south-southwestwards from the coast of the Irish Sea for some 20 miles (about 30 km) forming a triangle of low ground bo ...

. The building materials are

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s of varying shades, and

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then rapidly during the Industrial ...

for the roof. The

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. ...

(RCAHMW) records the "exceptionally fine"

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams proj ...

which is decorated with carved and painted

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s. The interior contains an impressive collection of funerary monuments dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries. St Marcella's is a

. The

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 ...

and a monument in the churchyard are listed at Grade II.

Gallery

Yr Eglwys Wen Dinbych St Marcella 23.JPG, St Marcella's double nave Yr Eglwys Wen Dinbych St Marcella 33.JPG, The interior Yr Eglwys Wen St Macella denbigh Dinbych 12.JPG, The "exceptionally fine" hammerbeam roof St Marcella's church, Denbigh - roof corbel (3) - geograph.org.uk - 4197124.jpg, A roof corbel Yr Eglwys Wen Dinbych St Marcella 32.JPG, The lychgate

Notes

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denbigh, St Marcella 15th-century church buildings in Wales Grade I listed churches in Denbighshire Grade II listed buildings in Denbighshire