169

 

II  

Designated  

30/01/1968  

02/07/1998  

Parish Church of St Michael  

 

Conwy  

Betws Yn Rhos  

Abergele  

Betws-yn-Rhos  

290685  

373546  

 

Prominently sited in a raised, rubble-walled churchyard in the centre of the village.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

A medieval church (perhaps that mentioned in the Lincoln Taxatio of 1291) was pulled down in 1838 and replaced by the present building; this was erected between 1838-9 at a cost of £756. 15s. 8d (£756.78) to designs by John Welch. Though not a Commissioner's church as such, its economy of design (as well as cost) is reminiscent of these and bears similarities with other low-budget churches by Welch, such as that at nearby Llansanffraid Glan Conwy, also completed in 1839.  

Small parish church in simple, naive Gothic style. Of local rubble construction with tooled limestone dressings; slate roof with coped and kneelered gable parapets and stone gable cross to E. The N and S sides each have 5 gently-splayed lancets with limestone sills and voussoirs; plain leading. Diagonal stepped buttresses to the corners, of 2 stages. Small rectangular chancel to E with coped gable and similar buttresses; plain triple lancet group. Below this is a boiler room entrance with recessed modern door; a C20 boiler flue projects to the R of the E window group. Extruded in the NE corner between the nave and chancel is a single-storey triangular vestry addition, with rendered face and slate roof. High boarded door via a flight of modern railed steps, with a small pointed-arched window to L. Three-stage projecting W tower with square lower stages and a pair of octagonal towers to the upper section, on a splayed stone base; buttresses as before. The towers have dentilated and chamfered necking below cemented spires with surmounting stone ball finials; modern weathervanes. Between the towers is a short connecting bellcote wall with pointed-arched bell opening. The entrance is on the tower's S return and has a wide chamfered Tudor arch with simple boarded doors. Pointed arched W window with wooden 3-light geometric tracery; simple stringcourse above forming a triangular pediment over the window. Above this is a chamfered circular oculus and a later C19 painted clock-face.  

Five-bay aisle-less church with gallery to western bay. Queen-strut variant trusses with corbelled braces and false hammerbeams; simple Jacobean-style pendants. Fixed grained pews with stopped chamfering and moulded tops flank a simple black and red tiled central pavement. The gallery is supported on 2 plain cast iron columns and has a panelled front and plaster coving below. It retains its original fixed bench seating in 4 tiers inclined towards the E. Octagonal sandstone font (donated 1839) with octagonal shaft and moulded base. The basin has the IHS monogram carved in a quatrefoil to one face and in raised letters around the rim the verse: 'Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not'. Simple Gothic pulpit of grained pine with square base and chamfered and broach-stopped sides to the upper section; blind tracery to front and side and a moulded cornice with foliated bosses. Similar reading desk with open Gothic arcading. At the NE corner of the nave is a recessed 9-panel door giving access to the vestry. Depressed Tudor-arched chancel arch with moulded jambs and deeply-returned label. Three stone steps lead up to a shallow rectangular chancel with simple early C20 dado panelling and altar rails. Five-panel blind-arcaded Early English style retable with crenellated brattishing to the top, contemporary with the reading desk and pulpit. On the N and S chancel walls hang tall wooden Gothic commandments boards with painted (Welsh) lettering. The E windows have stained and painted glass of 1844 commemorating the Wynnes of Coed Coch; in C13 style depicting scenes from Christ's Passion. The NE nave window has similar glass with geometric figurative and heraldic panels and rinceau background decoration. The nave S side has plain leaded windows with original brightly-coloured marginal glazing; one has later C19 yellow stain quarries with the IHS monogram and fleurs-de-lis motifs. On the NE nave wall is a simple white and black marble tablet to Gabriel Lloyd of Peniarth Esq (d.1790), presumably relocated from the earlier church. On the SE nave wall is a white and grey figured marble memorial tablet to John Oldfield and family of Farm (who laid the foundation stone of the church), d.1841. On the W wall of the gallery hangs a fine framed Royal Arms to Queen Victoria, presumably of 1839. The gallery is accessed via a plain corkscrew tower stair with stick balusters and square newels. Within the tower is a clock by Joyce of Whitchurch, dated 1877.  

Listed for its special historic interest as an eccentrically-designed early Victorian church with well-preserved character in a prominent setting within the village.