Church of St Mary

Cadw's description

Location

Slightly set back and at right angles to the E side of country road leading off the B5110 to the NE of the village of Brynteg.

History

The C14 nave probably represents the extent of the original Medieval church. Chancel and chancel arch were added in C15. N vestry and S porch added during the 1847 restoration by H Kennedy, Architect of Bangor, when the windows in the nave and S chancel wall were inserted, the chancel re-roofed and the N wall rebuilt.

Exterior

Small rural Medieval church with long nave, shorter, lower chancel and added S porch and N vestry; stepped raking buttresses to E gables of nave and chancel. Built of rubble masonry laid roughly to courses, W wall with stressed pointing, part of nave on boulder foundations. Slate roof with stone copings and shaped cross gable finials, W gable bellcote; N vestry has a dressed stone stack with ogee shaped openings to the hood.
The S entrance is offset to the W end of the nave, in added porch. Doorway is C15 or C16 and has a round head and quarter round moulded jambs. To L (W) is a small trefoil headed light in a square frame, a similar window is set in the W gable apex, and to the R (E) are 2 rectangular windows, each with 3 trefoil headed lights. Similar windows flank the C14 N doorway which has a pointed arched head and quarter round moulded jambs. The S chancel window is similar but with just 2 lights and there is a blocked C17 window of 2 lights to R. The C15 E window has 3 cinquefoil headed lights in a pointed arched frame with hood mould. The N vestry has a simple pointed arched doorway with chamfered jambs in the N wall and a single rectangular light in the E.

Interior

The church has an exposed roof of arched braced collared trusses down to shaped corbels; the nave has 8 roof bays, the chancel 3 and there is a wagon barrel roof of recessed panels over the sanctuary. The fittings are mainly mid C19, dating to the time of the 1847 restoration. At the W end is a gallery reached by a central spiral stairway. The front rail of the gallery is moulded and supported on chamfered stick balusters. The font is sited at the W end of the church, an octagonal bowl on shaped shaft and plinth.
The pulpit has carved facing panels, one depicting the Madonna and Child, another Christ; the carving was done by R L Gapper. The chancel is raised by a single step through the simple C15 chamfered chancel arch. The sanctuary is raised by a further step and has a moulded rail on stick balusters. The reredos commemorates the First World War and has floriate carving around recessed panels. To L (N) of the altar is an ogee headed recess.
The nave has memorials on W and N walls, that on the W wall being the oldest, an early C18 slate which bears a Latin inscription to David, son of William Daniel d1724; Elin, daughter of Griffith Rober of Bach-y-Sant, Caernarfonshire, and wife of David Williams of Bodelwyn d1731. At the W end of the N wall of the nave is a marble memorial to Richard Morys d1810 and William Jones; to its R a marble to John Parry Williams, Brig-y-don d1898 and to the far right is an early C20 brass memorial to Anne Louise, wife of William Hutton.
The interior of the vestry was not inspected at the time of the survey and the roof of the porch has exposed braced trusses with trefoils over the collars.

Reason for designation

Listed as a good rural church retaining substantial medieval fabric.