Saint Twrog's Church is in the village of

Maentwrog Maentwrog () is a village and community in the Welsh county of Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), lying in the Vale of Ffestiniog just below Blaenau Ffestiniog, within the Snowdonia National Park. The River Dwyryd runs alongside the vil ...

in the Welsh county of

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 ...

, lying in the

Vale of Ffestiniog The Vale of Ffestiniog is a valley in the Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, North Wales. It stretches from Ffestiniog in the east and runs in a westerly direction towards Tremadog Bay, terminating near Porthmadog. The Afon Dwyryd runs thro ...

, within the

Snowdonia National Park Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

. It 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 ...

Ardudwy Ardudwy () is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (cantref) of Dunoding and later a commote in i ...

. 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 ...

. A church was founded on the current site in the 6th century by

Saint Twrog Saint Twrog - feast day 26 June - was a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded the church at Maentwrog, having come to Wales early in the Age of the Saints. Early life It is believed that Twrog was the son of Ithel Hael o Lydaw of Brittany. He w ...

. It is believed that he was the son of Ithel Hael o Lydaw of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He was also the brother of

Saint Tanwg Saint Tanwg is the patron saint of Llandanwg, Gwynedd, Wales. He is presumed to be the founder of St Tanwg's Church, the small church at Llandanwg near Harlech, although the presence of an inscribed stone which has been dated to the 5th centu ...

of Llandanwg,

Saint Tegai Saint Tegai (sometimes spelt Tygai) is the patron saint and founder of Llandygai in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. According to Enwogion Cymru, Tegai was a saint who lived in the early part of the sixth century He was one of the sons of Ithel Ha ...

Llandygai Llandygai (, ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and Community (Wales), community on the A5 road (Great Britain), A5 road between Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor and Talybont, Bangor, Talybont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Car ...

and

Saint Baglan Saint Baglan was a 6th-century hermit who lived at Baglan in Wales. Life Baglan is said, on doubtful evidence, to have been a Breton prince, the son of Ithel Hael. He studied at Saint Illtud's monastic school at Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Majo ...

Llanfaglan Llanfaglan is a parish in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It lay in the medieval cwmwd of Is Gwyrfai. Llanfaglan is a medieval parish bordering with the parish of Llanbeblig, Caernarfon, on the shore of the Menai Strait and Traeth y Foryd. It is in ...

and Baglan. There are two other dedications to Saint Twrog: at Bodwrog in

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 ...

and at

Llandwrog Llandwrog (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain (record label), Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has a population ...

. When Twrog first arrived in the village, the valley would have been very marshy, which provided him with the wattle that he would have needed to build his

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

. Out the church near to the

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

door is a large stone known as Maen Twrog (''maen'' being the Welsh for stone). Twrog is reputed to have thrown the stone from the top of Moelwyn crushing a

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

in the valley below; it is said that his handprints can still be seen in the stone. The parish of Maentwrog gets its name from this stone The

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

trees in the

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

are said to be over 1300 years old. They were a feature of the ancient pagan burial places, their evergreen leaves being a symbol of immortality; however, 1300 years ago the site would have been Christian not pagan. Another use of the yew trees was for military purposes as the yew timber was excellent for making bows, but because of the poisonous nature of the yew trees they were not popular among the people and were therefore grown in relative safety in places such as churchyards. The church that was on the site before 1896 was dedicated to

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 ...

, which has a connection to the Cistercian monks who were very numerous in the Maentwrog valley at one time. In the village there is also Saint Mary's

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

and across the valley is Llyn Mair (Saint Mary's Lake). In 1504, the church was described as a chapelry attached to the extensive parish of

Ffestiniog Ffestiniog (; ) is a community in Gwynedd, Wales, containing several villages, in particular the settlements of Llan Ffestiniog and Blaenau Ffestiniog. It has a population of 4,875. History Ffestiniog was a parish in Cantref Ardudwy; in 12 ...

. During the years 1572 to 1624, the notable Edmwnd Prys was rector of the church. He translated the

metrical psalms A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a verse translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonisatio ...

into Welsh, and the present west window commemorates his work. The church was rebuilt in 1814 on the old

foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

and was described as a neat stone edifice and was rectangular with a square

embattled A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. There was 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 ...

at that time, the altar being placed in front of the present altar rails, with the door and

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

being on the north side. On the west wall of the church there were three small windows. In 1896 a new chancel was built along with a

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and new

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows were installed consisting of the east and west windows and the small "Good Shepherd" window. The

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

window "Son of Consolation" is in memory of William Edward Oakeley, benefactor of the parish, with whose help the church was restored in 1896, his wife Mary Oakeley executed the beautiful

carvings Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and y ...

. During this alteration, the

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

was replaced by an eight tubular bells and the present

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was installed at the same time. The old bell was installed in the village school tower. The architect responsible for the alteration work to the church in 1896 was John Douglas who was also responsible for the design of the

lych gate 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 ...

. There are some memorials on the north side of the church and on both sides of the altar which were transferred from the 1814 church, and there is a carving of Saint Twrog on 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 ...

. A fragment of Edmwnd Prys' pulpit also remains. The parish register goes back to 1695. Outside in the graveyard are three

Celtic Cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

style memorials to members of the Oakeley family. There is also a very old attractive church entrance gate which opens on the main road in Maentwrog.

References

External links

Diocese of Bangor, Deanery of Ardudwy, Saint Twrog, MaentwrogArtwork at St Twrog's Church, Maentwrog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maentwrog, St Twrog's Church Church in Wales church buildings in Gwynedd John Douglas buildings Grade II listed churches in Gwynedd St Twrog's Church

See also

References

External links