Flintshire Churches Survey

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Church of St Mary , Treuddyn

Summary

St Mary's church at Treuddyn, about 7 miles to the north-west of Wrexham, was built in 1875 on the site of a medieval double-naved church. It retains only a few items from its predecessor such as some 14thC glass fragments. It is sited within a raised circular churchyard which has been extended.

Constructed in Early English style in 1875 to the design of T. H. Wyatt.

Parts of the following description are quoted from the 1986 publication The Buildings of Wales: Clwyd by Edward Hubbard

History

Treuddyn appears to have been an ancient chapelry attached to Mold until 1831. For this reason perhaps, it went unrecorded in the Taxations of the 13thC and in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535.

The old church was double-naved, divided by an arcade of late Perpendicular style. The south side chancel was divided from the nave by a low wooden screen, which continued across the north aisle. The reading desk dated from 1720. In 1749 a new bell was added and windows were releaded in 1763.The west wall, having collapsed, was rebuilt in 1758. A sketch by Moses Griffiths in 1790 shows this church and a 1791 terrier records that its flagged floors were to be relaid. A west gallery was erected in 1792 and the chancel ceiling was plastered about that time.

Glynne visited the church, probably in the middle of the 19thC. It was double-naved, whitewashed, the arcade of low arches rested on octagonal pillars, the altar was encroached upon by pews, most of them 'ugly and inconvenient' although there were 'fragments of some ancient wooden seats'. Perpendicular windows were set in the south side, but the east window of the north aisle was perhaps Decorated, with medieval stained glass. Late, square-headed windows were set in the north wall; the eastern end of both naves plastered over, probably during the 17thC. The font had an octagonal bowl.

By the middle of the 19thC the church had fallen into serious disrepair. The north wall was leaning, the west gable bowing out and there was some displacement at the north-east corner. The building was taken down in 1874 and a new church constructed on the site to the design of T.H.Wyatt. It was consecrated in 1875 and cost œ1900.

Architecture

The church consists of a nave and chancel with an eastern apse, and north and south aisles. It is oriented east-north-east to west-south-west, but 'ecclesiastical east' is adopted here for descriptive purposes.

Fabric:- 'A' is of medium to large blocks of medium-grained buff-brown sandstone; coursed. Dressings of the same fine grained fabric.

Roofs:- blue slate tiles with red ceramic ridge tiles. Cross finial to the porch and a pinnacle finial to the chancel.

Drainage:- lead channels, guttering and downspouts lead to soakaways. A gravel path following the line of the walls could disguise a drainage trench.

The church is a 19thC construction and for that reason the following description is only a summary.

Exterior

North Aisle - General. A basal plinth at c.0.6m.

North wall:- four pairs of trefoiled lights without full frames, and a short buttress separating the third and fourth windows to the east.

East wall:- a single trefoiled window, larger than those in the north wall.

West wall:- a pair of trefoiled lights, comparable with that in the east wall, light the vestry at the west end of the aisle.

Nave - General. A chimney at the apex of the west end, and at the east end of the nave a stepped bellcote with a single bell.

North wall: - a clerestorey with four hexafoil lights, all perspex covered.

West wall:- the chamfered plinth continues from the north aisle, and below the main window is a string course at a height of about 1.6m The gable end contains three trefoiled lights with linked hoodmoulds below a rose window with a voussoired relieving arch over it. In the top of the gable are two chamfered slit apertures and above them rises the short octagonal chimney. A subterranean boiler house with a corrugated roof and stepped entrance adjoins the base of the wall.

South wall:- as north wall.

Chancel - General. Apse with peaked roof. Plinth and string course as the nave. Three pairs of trefoiled lights with quatrefoil tracery lights above, but the trefoils have angular rather than round heads.

South Aisle - General.

East wall:- a single trefoiled, window with stained glass.

South wall:- a porch adjoins the west end. East of this are two pairs of trefoiled windows, then a single window, a buttress and another single window. Beyond these is a square-headed vestry door, corbels giving it a shouldered appearance.

West wall:- a pair of trefoiled windows as elsewhere.

South Porch - General. A stepped entrance.

East wall:- a single quatrefoil light.

South wall:- a two-centred arch with a hoodmould and simple stops.

West wall:- as east wall.

Interior

Porch - General. Tiled floor, walls plastered and painted with splayed window apertures; and a roof of five collar trusses.

North aisle - General. Tiled floors though mainly carpetted, with raised planked floors under the benches. Plastered and painted walls. Sloping roof of four and a half bays with rafters and through purlins, the principals supported on stone corbels on the north wall. A two-centred arch at the east end of the aisle opens onto the organ chamber, and in front of this is an altar. And at the west end is a vestry, partitioned off and raised above the general level of the aisle.

North wall:- photo of a Horn Book found beneath a pew in the church in 1866 and now in St Asaph.

East wall:- a two-centred arch with panelling.

South wall:- two-bay arcade, the arches two-centred and of two orders, on round pillars with moulded capitals, and engaged pillars for the responds.

West wall:- window embrasure.

Nave - General. Floors and walls as north aisle. Roof of five arch-braced collar trusses with king struts; two of the trusses are supported on wall posts resting on stone corbels. Splayed clerestory windows.

North wall:- as south wall of north aisle. A First World War memorial.

East wall:- a high two-centred chancel arch of two orders. Two steps up to the chancel through a low stone screen.

South wall:- two-bay arcade of similar form to that on the north side.

West wall:- splayed windows only.

Chancel - General. Stepped up from nave, with two steps to the sanctuary, and one to the altar. Carpets over tiles, and encaustic tiles in sanctuary.

North wall:- the organ occupies a chamber beneath a two-centred arch.

East wall:- wood panelled reredos.

South aisle - General. Floor, walls and roof as north aisle. A two-centred arch at the east end gives on to a small chapel. The font is at the west end.

North wall:- as south wall of nave. One 20thC brass.

East wall:- arch to chapel.

South wall:- arcade as above.

West wall:- window aperture.

Churchyard

The irregularly shaped churchyard is a result of an eastwards extension in 1893. Formerly there was a small polygonal enclosure. It is well maintained.

Boundary:- a stone wall on all sides which has been recently repaired and repointed. The south side forms a revetment to a public footpath and a stream, and is capped in places with the side slabs of chest tombs.

Monuments:- few if any pre-19thC gravestones remain. The earliest memorial noted during a cursory examination of the churchyard was 1804.

Furniture:- on the south side of the church is a sandstone baluster pillar for a sundial. The plate which carried a date of 1803 when seen by Hubbard has gone.

Earthworks:- a curvilinear bank, rising to over 0.5m curves south on the eastern side of the church and represents the earlier boundary on this side. The churchyard is raised about 1m on the south and north sides, and about 0.5m on the east.

Ancillary features:- the timber-framed lychgate on the west side of the churchyard was erected in 1975, having been brought from the church at Llanddewi near Llangernyw. There is a south entrance through a single wrought iron gate, and to the north-east of the church is a single gate set between a wooden pillar and one in weathered grey sandstone. Gravel paths around the church.

Vegetation:- two yews of considerable age grow just within the south and east boundaries. The extent of the early churchyard on the east is shown by a few firs and horse chestnuts.

Sources consulted

CPAT Field Visits: 29 June 1996 and 27 November 1998
Clwyd SMR
Crossley and Ridgway 1945, 197
Faculty: St Asaph 1874 (NLW): church rebuilding
Faculty: St Asaph 1893 (NLW): churchyard extension
Flintshire County Record Office: P/66/1/15 (1870); P/66/1/17 (1873)
Glynne 1884, 263
Hubbard 1986, 453
Pritchard n.d.
Quinquennial Report
RCAHMW 1912, 91
Thomas 1911, 440
Click here to view full project bibliography

Please note that many rural churches are closed to the public at certain times. It is advisable to check when the church will be open before visiting. Information about access, or how to contact parish clergy, can often be obtained from the relevant Diocesan Office which can be found through the Church in Wales website. Further information about Treuddyn Church may also be found on the St Asaph Diocese website.