Llanfihangel Din Sylwy – St Michael’s Church

History

   The church of St. Michael in Llanfihangel Din Sylwy was mentioned for the first time in the documents from 1254, however the current building dates from the fifteenth century. In the mid-nineteenth century, the church must have been in a very bad condition, because during the renovation undertaken in 1855, among other things, the entire western wall of the nave was rebuilt.

Architecture

   The church originally consisted of a short, almost square nave measuring 5.5 x 5.1 meters and a narrower and lower chancel, 5.1 x 3.6 meters. The latter was illuminated from the east by a three-light window with tracery topped with cinquefoils, and from the south by a two-light window with similar tracery. The eastern one was larger and placed in a pointed jamb, and the smaller southern one in a four-sided jamb. The eastern one was additionally equipped with a pointed, drip archivolt. The nave from the north and south was lit with much simpler, narrow, lancet windows. Inside, both parts of the church were covered with an open roof truss with arched collars.

Current state

   The southern entrance, as well as the rebuilt west wall, comes from the early modern period, but the original late Gothic windows in the eastern and southern walls of the chancel have survived. From the original furnishings of the church, the late-medieval baptismal font has been preserved, and the original wooden roof truss of the chancel is also visible.

show this monument on map

return to alphabetical index

bibliography:
Salter M., The old parish churches of North Wales, Malvern 1993.
The Royal Commission on The Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions in Wales and Monmouthshire. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Anglesey, London 1937.

Website britishlistedbuildings.co.uk, Church of St Michael A Grade II Listed Building in Llanddona, Isle of Anglesey.