St Mary's Church was a

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 ...

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 ...

Llanfair-yn-Neubwll Llanfair-yn-Neubwll is a village and community (Wales), community on the Isle of Anglesey in the north west of Wales. The community includes the villages of Llanfihangel yn Nhowyn and Caergeiliog, and had a population of 1,688, increasing to 1,8 ...

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. The current building was constructed in the 14th century, possibly on the site of a 12th-century church. It was restored in 1857. The church was

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also referred to as decommissioning or ''secularization'' (a term also used for the external confiscation of church property), is the removal of a religious sanction and blessing from something that had been previously consec ...

in the 1970s and is a Grade II-listed building.

History

The current church building was constructed in the 14th century, though there is a suggestion that there was originally a church from the 12th century on the site as the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

dated from that time. It was constructed out of local stone rubble and sandstone as a small medieval church where 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 ...

and

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 ...

were not separated from each other. In 1857 Henry Kennedy, who worked on a number of churches within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 ...

, started a renovation of the church. He installed windows in the north and south walls and reroofed the nave. He also removed the pews and replaced them with open seating. Despite the extent of this work, Kennedy used recycled materials from the original church and the renovations were comparatively minor compared to others going on in Anglesey at the time.

Listing and closure

In the 1970s, St Mary's Church was granted Grade II-listed status, as "a good example of a simple, medieval church altered in the C19 but retaining much original fabric." The listing also stated that the church was "an important survival" in its original condition after numerous other churches had either been rebuilt or substantially refitted. Despite this, it was closed as an active church in the 1970s with the font being taken to

St Cybi's Church St Cybi's Church is a medieval church near the Roman Caer Gybi in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales. The church was Grade I listed in January 1968. The original church was constructed at Holyhead around 540 AD by St Cybi, a cousin of St David. The c ...

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

for protection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llanfair-yn-Neubwll, Saint Mary 14th-century church buildings in Wales Grade II listed churches in Anglesey Former churches in Anglesey

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...