Parish Church of St Beuno including two C17 Chest Tombs adjoining at the SW Corner

Parish Church of St Beuno

This is a medium-sized parish church in Victorian Gothic style, dedicated to St Beuno. It is a single-chamber building with a north porch and south vestry that together form an overall cruciform plan.

Exterior

The church is constructed of local rubble with pale buff sandstone dressings and a slate roof. The gable parapets are coped and kneelered; those to the east and west ends have gablet ends. Stone gable crosses and a chamfered eaves band run around the building.

The north porch is a single-storey gabled structure with a pointed outer arch. The arch has fluted jambs and applied semi-octagonal shafts, with hollow-chamfered arch moulding and a label returned onto the shafts. Flanking the porch are single-light windows with cusped ogee heads and two quatrefoil occuli above; plain returned labels. To the left of the easternmost of these is a flat-headed three-light window with cusped, hollow-chamfered arches and a label of the same pattern. A stepped buttress beyond this defines the nave section from the chancel, a feature repeated on the south side.

The chancel has two-light pointed-arched windows to each of its sides, with cusped Y tracery. The easternmost window on the south side of the nave is a two-light flat-headed window with cusped ogee lights.

Single-light windows flank the gabled vestry on the south side, with cusped ogee heads and surmounting occuli. The vestry has a simpler cusped lancet to its gable face and a broach-stopped-chamfered entrance to its east side with a boarded door. Inset in the wall to the right of the entrance is a resited early 18th-century sandstone plaque carved with an angel in relief. Stepped-down and adjoining the vestry's gable wall is a low slated rubble boiler house with a boarded door to the front. Off-centre behind the vestry projection is a two-stage lateral boiler chimney with moulded capping.

The east window is Perpendicular in style, a three-light opening with cusped ogee heads to the lights and a plain returned label. The west gable has a coped and kneelered bellcote with a pointed-arched bell opening.

Adjoining the south wall of the church at the west end are two 17th-century sandstone chest tombs, both with raised guilloche decoration to the edges. The first tomb is to John Vaughan of Caer Gai, who died in 1671. It has two-panel sides with engaged, fluted columns to the centre and corners, and inscribed lettering. Above the tomb, set into the wall, is a sandstone relief plaque bearing arms and the initials I V, together with the date 1671, with a label above. The second tomb is to Catherine Lloyd, who died in 1695. This has heraldic arms in relief, raised decorative edge and border, and four-bay arcaded sides. A rectangular brass plate was formerly inset at the bottom of the slab.

Interior

The church has a single chamber with plastered walls and simple tiled pavements in a counterchanged black and red pattern.

The nave has a five-bay roof with braced collar trusses supported on brackets; the braces and raking struts above the collars are simply decorated. Fixed Victorian pews of oak have stopped-chamfered detail and moulded rails.

The limestone font at the west end is octagonal and in Perpendicular style, with a moulded base and foliate relief carving to quatrefoil panels on each face; it stands on a black slate plinth. The rim is inscribed: 'Suffer little children to come unto me.'

The pulpit, in the south-east corner of the nave, is semi-octagonal oak with sunk panels to each face having cusped heads. In the north-east corner is a large late 19th-century fitted organ in simple Gothic style, of oak, with sunk Gothic panels, blind quatrefoils and foliated bosses.

The rood screen is in Gothic style, spanning seven bays, with a large central arch and narrow flanking arches above. It is diagonally-boarded with a panelled dado. The pointed arches have cusping and a panelled frieze with quatrefoils and crenellated brattishing; a central surmounting Crucifixion crowns the screen.

The chancel is stepped up and has a polychromed tiled pavement. Its roof is waggon-vaulted with pine boarding and moulded ribs. The choirstalls are similar to the nave pews.

The sanctuary is further stepped up and has a fine polychromed tiled pavement. Oak altar rails, reused from the earlier church and dated 1739, have a moulded rail and turned balusters with later 19th-century ball finials. The sanctuary has a boarded oak dado with a pointed-arched, arcaded upper section with cusped arches.

The retable is a three-part oak structure in Gothic style, with a gabled and crocketed central section having a sunk mandorla within a cusped pointed arch and engaged supporting columns. Dividing crocketed finials between the three sections have arches as before and raised monogrammes 'XP' and 'An' respectively. The altar is in similar style, with carved blind tracery front featuring a central relief-carved Agnus Dei within a cusped oculus.

Flanking the east window are affixed a pair of pointed-arched metal boards with painted biblical texts in Welsh and English and decorative borders.

Monuments

On the west wall is a small white marble wall tablet to Maurice Jones, who died in 1758, and his family; erected 1763. This has a winged cherub's head and flanking finials in grey marble with a black slate surround.

On the south wall of the nave, from west to east: a plain grey figured marble wall tablet to John and Sarah Jones (died 1824 and 1837), by Edwards and Co. of London. Next is a white marble tablet to John Jones (died 1726) and Sarah (died 1734) in a black slate frame with segmental pediment bearing a relief-carved winged cherub's head in grey marble. Next is an oval tablet of figured white marble to William Williams of Caernarfon, Esq., who died in 1764.

On the south wall of the chancel is a large funerary tablet in figured white and grey marble to the Rev. Rice Anwyl Clerk, AM, DL, who died in 1819, and his family; by W Jones of Liverpool. It has a shallow pediment with an urn in relief above the tablet. To the east of this is a large Grecian monument in figured white marble to the Lloyd family of Plas-yn-Dre, dating to around 1836, with heraldic cartouche and shallow pediment.

On the north wall of the chancel, from west to east: a large classical funerary monument to Evan Lloyd (died 1776) and John Lloyd (died 1774). It is a white marble tablet with a pediment decorated with egg and dart motifs and a polychromed heraldic cartouche, surmounted by a flaming urn and a shallow obelisk behind of grey figured marble with a wreath. To the right is a similar though smaller and unpedimented memorial tablet to Robert Lloyd of Vron, who died in 1768, with an addition below recording dates from 1805 to 1835.

Stained and Painted Glass

The east window contains figurative scenes of christological subjects, erected in memory of A A and E Passingham in 1883. On the south wall of the nave is a window in memory of W and A Jones (died 1874 and 1884). On the north wall of the nave is a scene of the Good Samaritan in memory of E Williams, who died in 1848. To the east of this is a three-light grisaille window to the Anwyl family of Plas Coch, erected in 1855.

Miscellaneous

In the nave is a vernacular oak churchwardens' bench inscribed: 'I Forbes Esqr Cefn Bodig 1794'. On the back is affixed an earlier section of oak bearing an inscription in fine raised letters: 'Anno Domini 1657 I:V (for John Vaughan of Caer Gai).'