20553

 

II*  

Designated  

30/01/1968  

 

Church of St Ceinwen  

 

Isle of Anglesey  

Rhosyr  

 

Dwyran  

243970  

365820  

NW  

Located within an enclosed churchyard on the NW side of a right-angle corner of the A4080, c800m W of the village of Dwyran and c1.5km E of Newborough.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

The N and S walls of the nave are probably C12, the chancel was added later, probably C14-15. The church was said (by Lewis and J Longueville Jones) to have fallen into decay and rebuilt in 1812, (it is more likely to have been restored), the square-headed window in the N wall of the nave is from this date. In 1839 the N transept and W tower were built and windows inserted in the E and S walls; an inscribed C9-C11 Celtic cross, part of a gravestone, was incorporated into the NE buttress of the tower. The S porch was rebuilt early C20.  

Simple Decorated style church; nave and chancel are structurally undivided, with S porch, W tower and N transept. Built of local rubble masonry, rendered, with limestone dressings. Slate roof, laid to diminishing courses, with stone copings (tile copings to N transept) and a rendered ridge. Exposed stone offset buttresses; diagonal buttresses to nave, chancel and transept and angle buttresses to W tower. Nave and chancel of 3 bays; S wall has central gabled porch with round-headed, voussoir arched entrance, E and W bays have pointed-arched Y tracery windows; N wall has a blocked, round-headed arched doorway at the W end and a single square-headed window of 3 leaded lights to E. Chancel and N transept have 4-centred Perpendicular windows of 3 lights with intersecting tracery at the heads. C19 W tower is of 3 stages; vestry in the lower stages with the belfry above. Entrance is through a segmental-headed doorway in the S wall; other openings with pointed-arched heads with Y tracery. The lower stages have leaded lights in the W wall, N and S wall with blind recesses; belfry with louvred lights in N, S and W faces, blind recess to E. Belfry has a moulded cornice to an embattled parapet, with tall pyramidal finials at angles.  

Nave has an exposed roof of late medieval collared trusses with arched braces; N wall with blocked doorway, S wall with blocked window. Chancel is raised by one step and has a fluted rail on widely spaced stick balusters. Pulpit is square, raised by 3 steps, top part of recessed panels with rounded, fluted angles under a dentilled frieze and moulded cornice. Early C13 font, circular, with simple rolled base set on a square plinth. Bowl is decorated with a relief floriate design consisting of incurving pairs of stalks terminating in reversed palmettes and alternating with fleur de lys. Chancel, S wall has a slate memorial to Thomas Williams of Quirt Esq, d.1739, and his wife Margaret, d.1728.  

Listed as a small rural church of exceptionally early origin; retaining simple, later Medieval character and with a distinctive 'pre-archaeological' Gothic Revival tower.