History in Structure

Parish Church of St Martin

A Grade II Listed Building in Eglwysbach, Conwy

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.2183 / 53°13'5"N

Longitude: -3.7937 / 3°47'37"W

OS Eastings: 280328

OS Northings: 370527

OS Grid: SH803705

Mapcode National: GBR 64.18XV

Mapcode Global: WH65J.PCNM

Plus Code: 9C5R6694+8G

Entry Name: Parish Church of St Martin

Listing Date: 23 June 1967

Last Amended: 12 November 1996

Grade: II

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 78

Building Class: Religious, Ritual and Funerary

Also known as: St Martin's Church, Eglwys-bach

ID on this website: 300000078

Location: Prominently located in the centre of the village within a rubble-walled churchyard.

County: Conwy

Community: Eglwysbach (Eglwys-bach)

Community: Eglwysbach

Traditional County: Denbighshire

Tagged with: Church building

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Eglwys-Fâch

History

A Medieval church on the site was rebuilt c1782 (when rededicated), though this incorporated earlier work at the W end; the builder/designer was Hugh Williams of Conway. A porch addition was added to the S in 1837 and R. Lloyd Williams, architect of Denbigh, inserted Gothic tracery in the nave windows in 1881-2, as part of a general restoration conceived in 1874.

Exterior

Rubble construction with sandstone dressings and wide, slated roof to continuous, aisled nave and chancel; coped and kneelered gable parapets with stone Celtic cross surmounting E gable. 4-bay N and S sides with round-arched windows containing leaded tracery windows in Decorated style; 2-lights with quatrefoil above. Similar 3-light E window. High up at the W end, are 2-light arched-headed windows, presumably from the earlier church. S porch with coped and kneelered gable parapet and gable cross; slate roof. Stopped-chamfered reveals to pointed-arched opening and above, a stone plaque with inscribed date 1837. Round-arched inner doorway with plain impost blocks and keystone and flush 4-panel C18 door with C19 decorative ironwork. W tower with simply-moulded stringcourse and coping to parapet with obelisks at the corners; flagpole and weathervane. Extruded between the W wall and the tower are, on the S side, a former bier house, with hipped roof and boarded door, and on the N, a C19 boiler house.

Interior

Continuous nave and chancel with flanking aisles; slate-flagged floors. Plain round-arched arcades carried on square sandstone piers with moulded abaci. Coved plaster ceiling to nave/chancel; flat ceilings to aisles. Simple Victorian pitch-pine pews and octagonal font, together with reading desk and lectern. Plain late-Victorian organ by T.A. Ewing of Glasgow and Dumbarton. Early-Medieval octagonal stone font, re-used from the earlier church, with inscribed date 1731. On the W wall, a fine Royal Arms hatchment of George III, dated 1816. Stepped-up sanctuary and altar plinth with Victorian decorative tiles; oak altar rails with plain turned balusters. Large-field panelling behind altar with flanking, small-field panelling. Modern figurative glass to the E window with, to the L, a marble wall tablet to John Forbes of Bodnod, veteran of the American wars of Independence, d. 1823. A wooden well stair hugs the tower walls from first stage to the bell storey; flat, shaped balusters and oak rail (probably re-used earlier C18 material).

Reasons for Listing

A late C18 parish church in a prominent village location.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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