St Dona's Church, Llanddona

St Dona's Church is on a steep hill near the coast on the eastern side of Anglesey, about 1 mi from the village of Llanddona itself. St Dona's is surrounded by a churchyard, entered through a lychgate dated 1906 which bears a memorial to Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley, "Patron and Benefactor of this church". According to the 19th-century Anglesey historian Angharad Llwyd, a church was built here in 610, dedicated to St Dona, who lived on the sea shore nearby. The presence of a church here was recorded in the Norwich Taxation of 1254. In 1873, the rector (Peter Jones) had the church entirely rebuilt to his own design. As of 2012, the rector is the Reverend Neil Fairlamb.

St Dona's is built of rubble masonry, dressed with freestone. The roof is made from slate, and has a bellcote made from stone at the west end. There is a stone cross finial at the east end of the roof. The church is entered through a porch on the south side which leads to a doorway dating from the 15th century. The rounded doorway is decorated with figures of a bird, a dog and a human face on the left, and a cherub on the right. Inside, the nave is separated from the chancel by a step, and the sanctuary is itself raised one step above the chancel. The roof timbers can be seen from inside. The window at the east end has three lights (vertical sections separated by mullions) topped with ogee…