Monument to Mary Jones, with vestiges of her early home, Ty'n-y-ddol

Cadw's description

Location

The house and monument stand near the N end of Pont Ty'n-y-fach, N of the Church of St Michael.

History

Mary (Mari) Jones was born on the 16th December 1784 to a poor weaver and Calvinistic elder of Pen-y-bryniau mawr, who moved to Ty-n-y-ddol, Llanfihangel. As a child she became preoccupied with studying the bible of which the nearest copy in Welsh was at a distant farm. Thomas Charles, the eminent Methodist of Bala promised her a copy for herself, and at the age of 16, she walked barefoot to Bala in order to collect it. Her simple devotion became symbolic of the desire of ordinary folk for religious knowledge. She died in 1872, and was buried at Bethlan Chapel, Bryn Crug. Inspired by this example and the activities of Thomas Charles, the British and Foreign Bible Society was founded, proseletising and distributing bibles throughout the world. The monument was erected in 1921 in the ruins of her home, Ty'n-y-ddol.

Exterior

The outer house walls are built of local stone, now reduced to c1.3m high, with a recessed inglenook at the NE end. At the centre of the former living room, a rubble pyramid capped by 2 stages of pink granite, the upper arrises chamfered, supporting a rectangular obelisk carved on the face with an open bible. An inscription on the base stages records the story of Mary Jones in English and Welsh. The enclosed area is paved with flagstones.

Reason for designation

Included as monument of particular interest to the history of the Church in Wales and of significance to the ecclesiological revival of the third quarter of the C19.