St Dyfnog's Church, Llanrhaeadr
| Church of St Dyfnog | |
|---|---|
 "the finest window in all Wales" | |
  Church of St Dyfnog Location in Denbighshire | |
| 53°09′35″N 3°22′30″W / 53.1596°N 3.3749°W | |
| OS grid reference | SJ081633 |
| Location | Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch, Denbighshire |
| Country | Wales |
| Denomination | Church in Wales |
| Website | St Dyfnog's Church website |
| History | |
| Status | parish church |
| Founded | 13th century |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 19 July 1966 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | St Asaph |
| Archdeaconry | St Asaph |
| Deanery | Denbigh |
| Parish | Mission Area of Denbigh |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | Rev. Val Rowlands |
The Church of St Dyfnog, Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch, Denbighshire, Wales, is a parish church dating from the 13th century. The church is most famous for its Tree of Jesse window which dates from 1533. The church is a Grade I listed building.
Saint Dyfnog[edit]
Dyfnog was the son of Medrod ab Caradog Freichfas and a brother of the grandfather of Cwyfen, coming to the area from North Britain. He built a small wooden church on the property which is now the Church of St Dyfnog in Llanrhaeadr.
History[edit]
The first mentions of the church occur in the Norwich Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1254 and the Lincolnshire Taxatio of 1291.[1] The South chamber and the door of the tower may both date from this time.[1] The "particularly fine enriched roofs"[1] are later, dating from re-modellings in the 15th and 16th centuries.[2] The Jesse window, the church's most famous feature, dates from 1533.[2] The window is reputed to have been removed and buried during the English Civil war to protect it from destruction. It was re-instated in 1661.[1] The church suffered at the hands of Victorian restorers; Arthur Baker's restoration of 1879–1880 is described as "indifferent" by Cadw[1] and as "inappropriate" in the Clwyd volume of The Buildings of Wales.[3] The church remains an active parish church within the Mission Area of Denbigh.[4]
Architecture and description[edit]
The church is constructed of limestone rubble with sandstone dressings and slate roofs.[2] It has a double nave, a South chamber and a four-storey tower.[2] The architectural historian Edward Hubbard notes the style as Perpendicular, with the possible exception of the tower door.[3]
The interior contains a "wonderfully complete" Tree of Jesse window,[3] described by Cadw as "the apogee of the early Tudor North Wales school of glazing".[1] The window, showing Jesus's descent from Jesse,[5] has been called "the finest Glass window in all Wales, exceeded by few in England".[5]
The church also contains a number of significant monuments to local grandees including those of Watkin Edwards Wynne[1] and Maurice Jones, the latter "large and Baroque, (a) reclining bewigged effigy".[3] There is also a rare carved pelican, dated 1792, shown feeding its young with its blood.[3] The church is a Grade I listed building, the listing recording it as "an exceptionally fine late medieval church (with) the famous Jesse window".[1]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cadw. "Parish Church of St Dyfnog (792)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d "St Dyfnog's Church, Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch (165239)". Coflein. RCAHMW. 8 November 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Hubbard 2003, pp. 230–31.
- ^ "Churches". The Church in Wales. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch, Holywell and Church of St. Dyfnog / Enjoy Medieval Denbighshire". Medieval-wales.com. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
References[edit]
- Hubbard, Edward (2003). Clwyd: Denbighshire and Flintshire. The Buildings of Wales. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09627-5. OCLC 909280390.
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