Gwydir Uchaf Chapel

St Grwst, Llanrwst

Llanwrst is a small but historic town in the Conwy Valley, perhaps known best for its attractive 17^th century bridge. It has an interesting church, which includes the Gwydir Chapel, containing a remarkable set of funeral monuments to the Wynne family, former owners of nearby Gwydir Castle.

History

The first church was built nearby by the 6^th century Celtic Saint Grwst, but the present site was donated in the 12^th century by local lord Rhun ap Nefydd Hardd, to atone for his father’s sin of murdering Prince Idwal, son of Owain, King of Gwynedd. The church , begun around 1170, suffered during the turbulent history of the area; it was partly destroyed in the early 1400s during Owain Glyndwr’s uprising, and burned to the ground in 1468 during the Wars of the Roses by the men of the Yorkist Earl of Pembroke. The present church is the replacement built in 1470. It was restored in 1884, when the present tower was added.

The adjacent Gwydir Chapel was built by Sir Robert Wynne in 1633-4, Treasurer to Queen Henrietta Maria and owner of Gwydir Castle, who also helped finance the town’s bridge. It served as both family chapel and mausoleum until the building of Gwydir Uchaf chapel, nearer the castle in 1673. Ironically, Sir Robert himself is buried in Wimbledon.

The Church

The church consists of a nave and large north aisle, separated by an arcade, all executed in the perpendicular Gothic style. There is no chancel arch, but in the North Aisle is the stone staircase leading up to the Rood Loft. The main attraction is the Rood Screen, a magnificent survival. Although its niches of the musicians’ gallery lack the statues of the saints they were intended to house, the carving of the screen below is superlative. It includes images of both Tudor Roses and Pomegranates, symbol of Catherine of Aragon.

The screen’s panels each contain swirling filigree carving of a different designs: one depicts vines and bunches of grapes, another pigs eating acorns. The depiction of the symbols of Christ’s Passion, including a ladder, spear, nails and crown of thorns, and of a cock crowing (from the betrayal of St Peter), are particularly rare.

The Chapel

Executed in the Gothic style, this single room is a veritable treasure trove. The walls are lined with the stalls behind which the family would have sat, elaborately carved in the Jacobean style, the ends of the stalls adorned with peculiarly primitive heads. All around are the memorials of the Wynnes, with marble tablets and a set of rare engraved memorial brasses depicting the deceased in portrait form. On the south wall is the incredibly elaborate monument to Sir Robert’s father, Sir John (d. 1627).

On the floor are two earlier memorials: an empty and lidless stone coffin, decorated with quatrefoils, and said to the be the tomb of Llewellyn the Great (d. 1240), who was buried at nearby Maenen Abbey. Next to this is a very impressive 15^th century stone effigy of a knight, said to be that of Hywel Coetmor (above), who fought for the Black Prince at Poitiers and later took part in the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr. The effigy is incredibly detailed and retains its sword.

St Grwst, Church Street, Llanrwst LL26 0LE

St Mary and All Saints, Conwy

The North Wales town of Conwy is famous for its castle and mediaeval walls, which are among the most complete in the UK. But this World Heritage Site also has a large town church well worth a look, parts of which pre-date Edward I’s castle and walled town.

History

The church began life as a Cistercian Abbey, founded in 1172 and endowed by the Welsh Prince Llewellyn Fawr (Llewellyn the Great) in 1198. It was plundered by English forces of Henry III in 1245, but after the English conquest of this part of Wales in the 1280s, Edward I moved the abbey to Maenan a few miles away. St Mary’s therefore became the parish church of the new walled town built next to the castle as part of Edward’s conquest strategy. Parts of the walls survive from the 12th century abbey church in the present building.

The tower and chancel were rebuilt around 1300, with the south transept and south aisle following in the early to mid 14th century. The tower was completed in the late 15th century, and the rood screen and font installed around 1500. Some of the windows also date from the 15th-17th centuries. Extensive but relatively sensitive restoration in the late 19th century saw the nave roof and chancel floors both raised, the clerestory windows reset and the south transept window reconstructed.

The church

The church has a west tower, with an aisled nave and south transept. The north aisle is now a memorial chapel. From the outside, the three lancets in the tower and the west doorway, of c. 1235, are of particular interest. The interior is spacious, as befits the town’s importance, with a tall arcade of c. 1300, with carved heads at the join of each arch.

The most impressive feature is the rood screen, one of the best preserved in north Wales, and the adjoining choir stalls, both of around 1500. The stalls are vigorously carved, with figures and decoration resembling pinions and elaborate poppy-heads. The chancel also has some mediaeval floor tiles, now set in a wall next to the impressive arched tomb of Robert Wynne (d. 1598, builder of Plas Mawr house).

Other tombs and memorials include those to John Wynne (d. 1637) and Mary (d. 1585), mother of John Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury in Charles I’s reign (Williams was baptised in the early Tudor Perpendicular font at the west end). A fascinating tomb is that of Nicholas Hookes (d. 1637), who was the 41st child of his father William Hookes, and himself went on to have 27 children. Other items worth looking out for include a window by Burne-Jones in the south aisle, a reproduction of Andrea del Sarto’s ‘Christ’, and a bust of the sculptor John Gibson, who was baptised here in 1790.

The church holds regular services in English and Welsh.

St Mary & All Saints, Church Street, Conwy, Wales LL32 8LD