St Dona's Church, Llanddona (; )) is a small 19th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

in the village of

Llanddona Llanddona (; ); ) is a village and community noted for its sandy beach in the Welsh county of Anglesey. Located between Benllech and Beaumaris, it is popular as a holiday destination, particularly for families. Llanddona has no shops; however, ...

, in

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

, north Wales. The first church on this site was built in 610. The present building on the site dates from 1873, and was designed by the rector at the time. It reuses earlier material including a decorated 15th-century doorway and a 17th-century bell. The church is still used for worship by the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, 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 bishop ...

, and is one of seven churches in a combined parish. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, a national designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them", in particular because it is regarded as "a simple late 19th-century essay in Gothic revival".

History and location

St Dona's Church is on a steep hill near the coast on the eastern side of Anglesey, about from the village of

itself. The village takes its name from its

: the Welsh word originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "–ddona" is a modified form of the saint's name. St Dona's is surrounded by a churchyard, entered through a

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

dated 1906 which bears a memorial to

Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley Henry Edward John Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley and 2nd Baron Eddisbury or Abdul Rahman Stanley, (11 July 1827 – 11 December 1903), was a British historian who translated ''The first voyage round the world by Magellan'' and other works ...

, "Patron and Benefactor of this church". According to the 19th-century

historian

Angharad Llwyd Angharad Llwyd (15 April 1780 – 16 October 1866) was a Welsh antiquary and a prizewinner at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. She is generally considered one of the most important collectors and copiers of manuscripts of the period. Biography ...

, a church was built here in 610, dedicated to St Dona, who lived on the sea shore nearby. The presence of a church here was recorded in the

Norwich Taxation Annates ( or ; la, annatae, from ', "year") were a payment from the recipient of an ecclesiastical benefice to the ordaining authorities. Eventually, they consisted of half or the whole of the first year's profits of a benefice; after the appropr ...

of 1254. Repairs were carried out in the 1840s: one 19th-century writer, Samuel Lewis, recorded that the internal state of St Dona's was "wretched in the extreme" until the

rural dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. ...

at the time put it "into a state of creditable repair". In 1873, the rector (Peter Jones) had the church entirely rebuilt to his own design. St Dona's is still in use for worship and belongs to the

. It is one of seven churches in the combined

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from ...

with Llanddona and Llaniestyn. It is within the

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 residenc ...

of Tindaethwy and Menai, 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 o ...

of Bangor and the Diocese of Bangor. As of 2012, the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

is the Reverend Neil Fairlamb.

Architecture and fittings

St Dona's is built of

rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an inn ...

, dressed with freestone. The roof is made from slate, and has a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

made from stone at the west end. There is a stone cross

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

at the east end of the roof. The church is entered through a porch on the south side which leads to a doorway dating from the 15th century. The rounded doorway is decorated with figures of a bird, a dog and a human face on the left, and a cherub on the right. Inside, 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 ...

is separated from the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

by a step, and the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

is itself raised one step above the chancel. The roof timbers can be seen from inside. The window at the east end has three lights (vertical sections separated by

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s) topped with

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinatio ...

curves, and is set within a pointed arch with an external

hoodmould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin ''labia'', lip), drip mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This mouldin ...

. It contains stained glass added in 1963, depicting Christ with sea in the background (centre), St Curig (left) and St Dona (right); above them are images of a lion, dove, lamb and eagle. A stone bearing the date 1566 has been set upside down into the wall above the east window. The other windows are plain and smaller, with one or two lights. The glass in the other windows has been described as "unusual opaque leaded glass". The fittings are from the late 19th century, although the octagonal font (made of

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for pa ...

) is of uncertain date, possibly 14th century. The bell is dated 1647. A survey in 1937 by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire recorded the presence of an 18th-century communion table, an Elizabethan cover-

paten A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Western liturgical denominations, the p ...

dated 1574, and a silver cup dated 1769–1772.

Churchyard

The churchyard contains two

Commonwealth war graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

. One is of Hugh Williams, a

Royal Welsh Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

soldier of World War I who died in 1918. The other is the grave of Robert W. H. Everett, a

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

fighter pilot killed when his aircraft crashed on a nearby beach in 1942. Before World War II, Everett had been a jockey, and had ridden the winning horses in the 1929 Grand National and the 1934

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5,834 m ...

. In 1941, he had been awarded the DSO for shooting down a German Fw 200 Condor bomber.

Assessment

St Dona's has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

– the lowest of the three grades of listing, designating "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them". It was given this status on 30 January 1968, and has been listed because it is "a simple late 19th-century essay in Gothic revival".

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 s ...

(the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes that "its simple character" is "appropriate to its scale and site". A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region described St Dona's as "drably rebuilt".

References

External links

Photographs of the church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Donas Church Llanddona

Dona Dona may refer to: * Feminine form for don (honorific) (Spanish: doña, Portuguese: dona; Italian: donna), a Spanish, Portuguese, southern Italian, and Filipino title, given as a mark of respect * Feminine form for dom (title), titled nobility in ...

Llanddona, St Dona

Churches completed in 1873 Llanddona