5299

 

II  

Designated  

05/04/1971  

07/09/1998  

Church of St. Maelog  

 

Isle of Anglesey  

Llanfaelog  

 

Llanfaelog  

233697  

372990  

S  

Prominently sited in the centre of the village of Llanfaelog, set back from the junction between the A4080 and the road to Bryn Du.  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

 

The present church was built in 1848 to replace the old church of St. Maelog, located on different site within the churchyard. The church was one of many churches on the island that were either substantially reconstructed or rebuilt in mid C19. Architect H Kennedy of Bangor.  

Small Decorated church. Nave of 4bays with bellcote at W gable, S porch, shorter narrower chancel at E end with N vestry and lean-to extension. Built of rubble masonry with gritstone dressings; slate roof with stone copings, crosses at E chancel and porch gable apexes, remains of a cross socket at the apex of the E gable of the nave. The walls are articulated by a plinth and continuous sill band; each nave bay is articulated by a stepped buttress, with a further buttress to the centre of the S wall of the chancel and tall buttresses flanking the window in the W gable. Entrance is through the pointed-arched, chamfered doorway in the S porch. West of the porch is a narrow, trefoil-headed window; similarly detailed windows are in 3 of the 4 bays in the N wall of the nave. The second window from the W end is a pointed-arched window with paired, trefoil-headed lights and quatrefoil above; similarly detailed windows are in the 2 easternmost bays of the S wall of the nave. The W gable window is a tall lancet; the tall flanking buttresses are linked by a string course below a rubble plinth with raking sides which supports an ashlar bellcote surmounted by a cross. The chancel has a stepped, trefoil-headed window The N vestry has a pointed arched entrance with moulded surround; to the right (W) of the doorway is a leaded light with shaped head, and to the left (E), in the lean-to extension, is a single rectangular leaded light. The vestry has a steeply pitched roof with an ashlar chimney at the N gable apex.  

Entry to the church is through the pointed-arched doorway of the inner porch; a boarded door with very large strap hinges and decoratively studded front. Entrance leads to the nave of 9 roof bays, with exposed rafters and collared trusses with chamfered soffits; braces carried down to wall posts on plain corbels. The chancel arch is chamfered, the floor is raised 2 steps and covered with geometric tiles; the sanctuary is raised by a further 3 steps, both within the length of the 3 bay chancel roof. The sanctuary furniture is of moulded oak, the altar table, rail and reredos share a common design, with cusped tracery detailing at the heads of the panels, and forming brackets to the moulded sanctuary rail with floriate bosses. The reredos has raised panels flanking the chancel window, an ornate frieze between stepped up in the centre; the altar table has a central carved panel bearing a depiction of the Lamb of God. The oak pulpit is raised by 5 curving steps, the top is octagonal with deeply recessed facing panels, supported on 4 columns with moulded capitals and plinths. The gritstone font also has an octagonal top supported on a columned base. The church contains some late C19 and early C20 stained glass, including a Pre-raphaelite style window of St. Cecilia, to John Price Roberts, Plas Maelog, d.1857, and the chancel window, the last supper, to Rev. John William Trevor M.A.  

Included as a competently designed Gothic Revival church, built during a comprehensive programme of re-building and restoration carried out on the island in mid C19. Prominently sited within the centre of the village and forming a focal point for the village landscape, the church forms a group with the nearby Rectory and National School (community centre).