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Old Church of St
Nidan, Llanidan
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The surviving
western section of St Nidan's and the central arcade
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Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan, Location in Anglesey
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| Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan | |
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Location
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Llanidan, Anglesey
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Country
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Wales,
United Kingdom
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History
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Founded
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616
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Founder(s)
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St Nidan
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Architecture
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Status
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Functional status
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Closed and partly demolished in the 19th century;
occasionally open to the public
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Heritage designation
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Designated
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30 January 1968
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Specifications
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Length
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78 ft (24 m) (pre-demolition)
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Width
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38 ft (12 m)
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Rubble masonry dressed with sandstone
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The Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan is a medieval church in the community of Llanidan,
in Anglesey,
North Wales,
close to the Menai Strait. The first church on the site was
established in the 7th century by St Nidan,
the confessor
of the monastery at Penmon,
Anglesey, but the oldest parts of the present structure, which is now closed
and partly in ruins, date from the 14th century. In about 1500 the church was
enlarged by the addition of a second nave
on the north side; an arcade of six arches was also built between the
two naves.
Between 1839 and 1843 a new church was built nearby to serve the
local community, partly due to the cost of repairing the old church. Much of
the building was subsequently demolished, leaving only part of the western end
and the central arcade. The decision was condemned at the time by Harry Longueville Jones, a clergyman and
antiquarian, who lamented the "melancholy fate" of what he called
"one of the largest and most important [churches] in the island of
Anglesey".[1] Other
appreciative comments have been made about the church both before and after its
partial demolition.
After the new church was opened, the old church was used as a chapel for
funerals for a time. It has been restored by the owners of the adjoining house,
Plas Llanidan, and is
occasionally open to the public. The remaining parts of the church are a Grade II* listed
building, a national designation given to "particularly
important buildings of more than special interest",[2] in
particular because St Nidan's is regarded as "a good example of a simple
medieval rural church, enriched by 15th-century additions".[3]
In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales said that the church possessed
a curious stone shaped like a thigh that would always return by the next day no
matter how far away it was taken. A Norman earl, he recounted had chained it to
a large rock and thrown it into the sea, only for the stone to return to the
church by the following morning. A sandstone chest containing bone fragments,
possibly relics of a saint, was found buried beneath the altar. The chest and
the church's 13th-century font were relocated to the new church.
History and location
Foundation and construction
St Nidan's Church is in the south of Anglesey,
Wales, near the village of Brynsiencyn. It is about a quarter of a mile
(400 m) from the Menai Strait, which divides the mainland of
Wales from the island of Anglesey.[4] The
authors of a 2009 guide to the buildings of north-west Wales record the
tradition that a church was first established at this site in 616.[5] St Nidan, who founded the
church here, was associated with St Seiriol's monastery at Penmon, on the eastern tip
of Anglesey, and was the monastery's confessor.[6] The
area takes its name from the church: the Welsh word llan originally meant "enclosure" and
then "church", and "‑idan" is a modified form of the saint's name.[7]
The church and rectory are mentioned in a charter of 1360 as being owned by
the priory at Beddgelert, Gwynedd; earlier records have been
lost and therefore the date of the priory's acquisition is unknown.[3] As a
result, writes the historian Antony Carr, the reason for the "distant
community" of Augustinians in Beddgelert possessing Llanidan
and three other churches in Anglesey cannot now be discovered. Carr notes that
the priory also controlled two churches on the other side of the Menai Strait
from Llanidan.[8] Ownership
of the church passed to Henry VIII at the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1535. His successor, Elizabeth I, granted the advowson
(the right of a patron to choose the parish priest) and the grounds surrounding
St Nidan's, including the estate house called Plas Llanidan, to an
Edward Downam and a Peter Ashton; thereafter, in the following centuries, the
right and the land passed by sale, on marriage and by bequest into the hands of
the Boston family.[9]
The remaining part of the south nave, the oldest section of the present
structure, dates from medieval times; the north doorway and tracery
(patterns of stonework in the windows) point to the 14th century. In about
1500, the church was enlarged by the addition of a south porch and a second
nave to the north. An arcade (row of arches) was constructed between
the two naves.[3][5]
Enlargement by adding a second nave was not as common in Anglesey as elsewhere
in Wales. Llanidan is one of three examples on the island; the others are St Beuno's, Aberffraw and St Cwyfan's,
Llangwyfan).[10] It
is uncertain whether St Nidan's was enlarged because of a growth in the numbers
attending the church or because of the generosity of a benefactor.[11]
Replacement and demolition
A new church, also dedicated to St Nidan, was
built to replace the old one between 1839 and 1843.[12] This
was because the old church required considerable repair and the growing
population in Brynsiencyn needed a church closer to their village.[9] Much
of the structure of the old church was demolished in 1844, leaving only the
western end (enclosed by a new wall at the east) and the arcade.[3] Some
walling was constructed at the east end of the arcade to help support the
arches, but it sank because it was apparently built on top of a grave. In 1913,
the tops of the external arches were covered with asphalt and turf in an
attempt to make them more weather-proof. One of the voussoirs
in the eastern-most arch was replaced at the same time due to its poor
condition.[11]
The new church, built (according to one
19th-century critic) in a "debased barbarous style"[1]
Parish worship transferred to the new church, along with some of the
fittings.[3] The
old church was thereafter used as a mortuary
chapel for a time.[4] The
churchyard continued to be used for burials until 1902.[11] In
modern times, the owners of Plas Llanidan have restored the church, and it is
used by them as a private chapel. The churchyard is kept locked, but the church
and the gardens of Plas Llanidan are occasionally opened to the public.[4][13]
The 19th-century clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones disputed the need to
replace the old church and condemned its "melancholy fate",
describing the reasons for its demise as "pretexts".[1] In
his view the only part of the church that needed repair was the
"ruinous" western end (which had been "badly constructed in the
first instance"), yet this part was saved while the "good portions of
the building" were destroyed.[1]
Furthermore, the cost of the new church was more than double the cost of
repairs to the medieval church, which could have "endure[d] for ages to
come".[1] He
added that it might have been thought to be safe, as it was so close to Lord Boston's
house and thus "under the shadow of the lord of the domain", and he
condemned the "evil hour" in which "the ruthless hand of the
destroyer was allowed to be lifted against it by those whose first duty it was
to see that it took no harm".[1] He
stated that "when buildings, dedicated to God's service by the piety of
former ages, are allowed to be treated in this manner by the constituted
authorities of the land ... the institutions to which they are attached
cannot be expected to find greater favour at the hands of the fickle and
ignorant multitude."[1] He
also noted that the new church was only a little larger than its predecessor.[1]
People associated with the church
The clergyman and antiquarian Henry Rowlands,
who wrote a history of Anglesey entitled Mona Antiqua Restaurata, was the vicar
of St Nidan's from 1696 until his death in 1723.[5][14] Thomas Williams, a politician and businessman
who became wealthy through copper mining in Anglesey, was buried in the
churchyard in 1802, but was reburied at St Tegfan's,
Llandegfan, in the 1830s.[4] Isaac Jones, a clergyman and translator of
theological texts, was a curate of Llanidan and other churches in the vicinity
from 1840 until his death in 1850. He is buried in the churchyard of St
Nidan's.[11][15] The
sculptor John Gibson (1790–1866) was the son of William
Gibson, the fourth of his family to serve as the parish clerk at St Nidan's.
The Gibson family was associated with the church from the early 18th century
onwards; the baptism of Grace, daughter of George Gibson, is recorded in the
registers in 1708.[11]
Architecture and fittings
Structure
The east window of the southern aisle, which reuses some
15th-century tracery, and the exposed woodwork of the roof
St Nidan's has two naves or aisles divided by a central arcade, and a porch
in the south-west corner. It is 38 feet (11.6 m) wide, the northern nave
being about 3 feet (0.91 m) wider than the other. Before the church's
partial demolition, the church was 78 feet (23.8 m) long and had a chapel,
12 by 19 feet (3.7 by 5.8 m), on the south side.[1] The
walls, about 2 feet 10 inches (0.86 m) thick, are built from
local rubble masonry with a covering of sandstone.[1][3] The
present wall at the east end was added after the rest of the church was
demolished. The western wall has been rebuilt and buttresses
added to the south side and north-west corner to help support the structure;[3] Jones
thought that they dated from the 16th century.[1] The
roof above the remaining western section is made from slates. At the top of the
west end of the roof above the south aisle, there is a stone bellcote
with two bells.[3]
The south porch contains a water stoup
that was said miraculously never to dry up; the water was traditionally
regarded as having healing powers.[4] There
is a second entrance on the north side through a 15th-century arched doorway
decorated with carved human heads.[16] Two
verses from Psalm 84
(in Welsh) are written on the wall above the doorway: "For one day in thy
Courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of
my God than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness."[3][11]
These are the only surviving portions of the Biblical texts that once decorated
the internal walls.[3][11]
The north wall has a window with two lights (sections of window separated by
mullions)
topped with trefoils
(a pattern of three overlapping circles). The two arched east windows, one in
each aisle, are decorated with tracery; the southern window reuses some tracery
from the 15th century.[3] The
demolished southern chapel had a two-light window similar to that at St Peter's,
Newborough, which Jones considered to be of "very rude
workmanship", and three-light square-headed windows in the east and west
walls.[1] Jones
also noted the loss of the original window at the end of the northern aisle,
which was from the 14th century in his view, and some windows in the north wall
"of excellent workmanship".[1] The
southern aisle, he said, had had "a small circular headed window, filled
up from a pointed one" at the eastern end; the east window "was of a
design more remarkable for its singularity than its beauty."[1]
The exposed central arcade, which "rises from the
graveyard like an abstract sculpture"[17]
Two of the six arches in the arcade are inside the church; the other four
project beyond the east wall, which has been built around one of the octagonal
piers that support the arches. The roof dates from the 15th century, although
the visible beams are not original; the roof's exposed wooden trusses rest on
sandstone corbels.[3] A
1937 survey by the Royal Commission on
Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire noted 20
memorials from the 17th and 18th centuries. It also recorded the presence of a
sundial on a pedestal, dated 1768, and some stone shields that were not
attached to the building, bearing dates of 1561 and 1563.[16] Most
of the fittings now in St Nidan's are not original, and come from other
churches in north-west Wales; the granite altar is modern.[3]
Thigh stone and reliquary
The 19th-century antiquarian Angharad Llwyd,
who wrote a history of Anglesey in 1833, recorded the story noted by Gerald of Wales
in the late 12th century that the church once possessed a stone
"resembling a human thigh" which would return "of its own
accord" however far away it was carried.[18] It
was sometimes known as the "homing stone".[17]
Gerald said that Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
(who died in 1101) had tested this story by throwing the stone into the sea,
chained to a large rock, only to discover that the stone had returned by the
next morning. As a result, the Norman earl issued an order that no-one was to
attempt to move it. It was popularly believed that if a couple had sexual
intercourse near the stone (something that Gerald said happened
"frequently"), it would "sweat large drops of water" and
the woman would not become pregnant.[17]
Henry Rowlands wrote that the stone had been stolen from the wall of the
churchyard (into which it had been set) during his time at St Nidan's.[17][18]
When Rowlands was vicar of St Nidan's, a small chest was found buried about
2 feet (60 cm) under the altar, containing some bone pieces. His view was
that it contained the relics of a saint from St Nidan's or another church in
the region (St Beuno's Church,
Clynnog Fawr or St Dwynwen's Church, Llanddwyn),
and that the chest had placed in St Nidan's during the time of Edward VI for safe keeping.[18] The
sandstone reliquary
is now kept at the new church, where local tradition maintains that it holds
the remains of St Nidan.[19]
Jones said that it was "unique, as far as Wales is concerned."[20] The
13th-century font, which Jones described as "a singularly beautiful
specimen", was moved to the new church in about 1860.[1][19]
Assessment
Listing
St Nidan's has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration
as it is a Grade II* listed building, the second-highest of the
three grades of listing, designating "particularly important buildings of
more than special interest".[2] It
was given this status on 30 January 1968 and has been listed because it is
regarded as "a good example of a simple medieval rural church, enriched by
15th-century additions."[3] Cadw, the Welsh Government
body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh
buildings on the statutory lists, also notes that although it was partly
demolished in the middle of the 19th century, "what remains can be
considered a well preserved and important survival of a double-naved church,
retaining many 15th-century features such as the central arcade."[3]
The wall around the churchyard is also a listed building, at Grade II –
the lowest of the three grades of listing, designating "buildings of
special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them".[2]
According to Cadw, the wall probably dates from the 15th century, from around
the time that the church was extended.[21]
Pre-demolition comments
John Skinner's drawing of the church from 1802
In 1802 the clergyman and antiquarian John Skinner visited Anglesey to see the
island's Celtic remains, beginning his tour by rowing across the Menai Strait
to land at Llanidan. His view was that the church "seems superior to the
generality of Welsh buildings of the kind", with its double roof and two
bells, but he also said that "the interior of the building has little to
attract notice".[22] Angharad
Llwyd described it in 1833 as "a spacious structure, containing several
good monuments".[18]
Commenting in 1846 on the church as it had been before demolition started,
Harry Longueville Jones said that St Nidan's was "one of the largest and
most important [churches] in the island of Anglesey" for its varied
architecture, fittings and traditions.[1] He
noted the "rather curious" position of the church, in a "nearly
circular enclosure" with tall trees around it, and said that "the
effect of the western end with the porch, overgrown by an enormous quantity of
ivy, was picturesque in the extreme".[1]
Post-demolition comments
The interior, looking from the south-west corner, showing
two of the arches separating the aisles
The Welsh politician and church historian Sir Stephen Glynne visited
the church in 1850. He said that St Nidan's, which he described as "now
abandoned and in great measure ruinated", was "a larger and better
structure than most of the Anglesey churches."[23] At
the time he saw it, the walls were still largely in place but the only roofed
section was the western end; he commented that most of the church was
"open to the skies."[23]
The historian and clergyman Edmund Tyrrell Green, writing a survey of
Anglesey church architecture and contents in 1929, described the arcade as
"good" and some of the tracery in the windows as "very
good".[24] His
view was that the "excellence of the work" at St Nidan's was because
of its link with Beddgelert Priory.[24]
The authors of a 1990 book about the lost churches of Wales said that St
Nidan's was "now an evocative shell decorously mantled with ivy and
enclosed by an overgrown graveyard".[17] They
described it as "a dark, dusty and empty place", but said that the
"elegant" arcade "rises from the graveyard like an abstract
sculpture."[17] The
quality of the stone carving of the doors and windows, they said, was evidence
of "the vanished splendour of Llanidan.
