Church of St John the Baptist, Llanystuymdwy

Heritage listing

Reason for designation: Included as a good example of a completely rebuilt C19 church in the full Gothic revival tradition of the mid century. History: The parish church stands on an early site. It was rebuilt as a handsomer edifice neatly fitted up in 1819, then dedicated to a C6 missionary Sant Tydecho, but was rebuilt on a larger scale in 1862 by Henry Kennedy, architect to the diocese of Bangor, in a Gothic style. It was further inproved internally in 1890 and rededicated in 1892 to St Ieuan gan Alltud Eifion. The church was known in the C18 for is patronage of bards, including Evan Evans, Ieuan Fardd (1731-1788) the eminent poet and scholar, who was curate here from 1769-1770. Exterior: Built of roughly coursed squared microgranite, with gritstone dressings, and slate roofs. The building consists of a nave with a south porch, a short narrower presbytery, and large north and south transepts. Double buttresses at the W end rising from a wide battered base, rise to a gabled bellcote with three openings for bells. The S porch has an external arch of 2 chamfered orders and coped gable with a cusped terminal stone. Nave buttresses, the lower offset rising from ground level. 1- and 2-light windows with cusped geometric tracery, varied at the W end, with a higher 2-light window. On the N side a low W end window, partially blocked. 2-light windows to the transepts and a large 3-light window with elaborate tracery at the E end. All gables are coped. Attached to the porch are slate headstones of Richard Williams, Cefn-y-maen d.1747, Rebeccah Hughes d.1860, Jane Morris d.1860, Catherine Ellis and children d.1805 (in Latin), and Catherine Ellis of Gwynfryn, d.1736, buried 1803. In the churchyard is a monument of 1781 to William Williams of the East India Company. Interior: Wide

From Cadw under OGL v3.