5383

 

II*  

Designated  

12/05/1970  

02/05/2001  

Church of St Mechell  

 

Isle of Anglesey  

Mechell  

Amlwch  

Llanfechell  

236943  

391270  

 

Set within an irregularly shaped churchyard at the N side of the crossroads in the centre of the village of Llanfechell.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

C12 church recorded in the Norwich Taxation of 1254. The nave and the western part of the chancel are C12, and the tower may be contemporary: dating evidence is provided by the S door and the NW window in the nave, as well as a blocked round-headed arch to the west of the S transept, whilst in the chancel, the blocked arch to the SE may be evidence for a former aisle or chapel. It had been thought that the chancel had been lengthened to the E in the C13, but it is possible that its present length marks an unusally long C12 structure. The S transept added in C14. The N transept has been modernised and is of uncertain date. The W tower is probably C16 with C18 corbelled spire; the S porch, though modernised, is probably Medieval. It is thought, by RCAHMW, that the C12 church may have had a central tower, suggested by irregularities and straight joints in the walls near the crossing. The church was restored in 1840 and again in 1870. Renovated and re-roofed in modern times; the church has had some restoration work carried out in the late 1990s and the E window was being repaired at the time of the survey, the tracery replaced and the glass repaired. The N and S transepts were once termed 'Congl Siarad' and were used as a kind of local court, where local disputes were settled.  

Substantially C12 church, but with early Decorated character given by the plate tracery of the C19 restoration. Elongated plan with extended chancel and W tower; N and S transepts and SW porch. Built of schist rubble with some grit dressings. Slate roof with stone copings. The nave is of 2 bays with 2-light plate traceried windows. Round-headed S door and blocked round-headed window to NW, together with round-headed arch to W of S transept constitute important evidence for the C12 church. The chancel is also of 2 bays with similarly detailed windows in the W end, narrow leaded C12 lancets in the sanctuary; there is also a reset narrow C12 doorway with rounded head of rough schist voussoirs and roughly chamfered imposts. The E window has 3 cinquefoil-headed lights with reticulated tracery in a pointed-arch frame with moulded hoodmould over. The N and S transepts have 3-light shallow arched windows of curvilinear tracery; the S transept has a weathered Medieval head over the S window and a narrow rectangular leaded light in the E wall. Three-stage W tower; ground floor with round-headed leaded light in a rectangular frame in the W wall, upper storeys with narrow ventilation slits. The top has an embattled parapet wall with protruding dripcourse round all 4 elevations, and is surmounted by a corbelled octagonal spire. The S porch is gabled, with a wide pointed arched entrance; boarded door with ornate hinges and stirrup shaped handle.  

The SW porch has a stone flag floor consisting mainly of weathered gravestones, and late C17 and early C18 gravestones are set against each side wall. The inner doorway is a narrow round-headed doorway with rough schist voussoirs and imposts, to the L is a C14 sepulchral slab with a cross running down the centre; the head has hollows between arms with expanded ends, and large leafed foliage is carried down either side of the shaft. The boarded door has ornate hinges; the doorway leads to the W end of the nave, a square-headed doorway in the W wall giving access to the W tower. Nave and chancel have a continuous C15 arch-braced roof with high set collars. The chancel is raised by 2 steps with a moulded rail on shaped stanchions with scrolled brackets. The sanctuary is raised by a further 2 steps and has a reredos of recessed oak panels. The transepts have similarly detailed roofs, through shallow pointed arches with broach-stop chamfered angles. The fittings are C19, the pulpit with recessed facing panels with chamfered angles under a moulded rail, supported on 4 shaped legs. The C12 pulpit is located to the W end of the nave; a square gritstone bowl each side with a sunk panel containing 2 round-headed arches, with square imposts on all but the N side. It has been cut away at the base and stands on a stone plinth made up of window mullions. On the S wall of the nave is a marble memorial tablet surmounted by an obelisk and urn; to Thomas Meyrick d1763, Richard, his son, d1796, Reverend William Meyrick d1819 and Elizabeth, his daughter, d1821. The S transept window is dedicated to Sarah Elizabeth Hunter, daughter of William Bulkeley Hughes of Plas Coch and Brynddu, d1797. The S chancel wall has 2 late C19 windows; the first depicts Christ the shepherd, to William Hughes, Rector, d1888, the other Christ healing the sick, to John A W Hughes and Margaret his wife, d1883. The N chancel wall has a window depicting Rob the Bruce and St Margaret, to Col Sir Charles Hughes Hunter, Baronet, d1907. The E window was removed for repair at the time of survey.  

Listed as an unusually early church retaining substantial C12 fabric and some detail of that period. The church also retains fine detailing from the C15, C16 and C18; particularly notable being the fine sub-medieval C15 roof of nave and chancel. The building is notable for its unusual length and cruciform plan, with distinctive west tower and spire.