St Mary's Church, Betws-y-Coed

St Mary's Church, Betws-y-Coed
St Mary's Church, Betws-y-Coed, from the southeast
Coordinates: 53°05′30″N 3°48′10″W / 53.0916°N 3.8028°W / 53.0916; -3.8028
Location	Betws-y-Coed, Conwy
Country	Wales
Denomination	Church in Wales
Website	St Mary, Betws-y-Coed
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	21 January 1988
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Transitional Norman
Groundbreaking	1870
Completed	1907
Construction cost	£5,000 (£330,000 as of 2011)
Specifications
Materials	Rubble stone with sandstone dressings slate roofs
Administration
Deanery	Arllechwedd
Archdeaconry	Bangor
Diocese	Bangor

St Mary's Church, Betws-y-Coed, is in the village of Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, Wales. It is an active Anglican parish church of the Church of Wales, in the deanery of Arllechwedd, the archdeaconry of Bangor and the diocese of Bangor.^[1] The church has been designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building.^[2]

History

The church was built between 1870 and 1873, the architects being the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin.^[2][3] It replaced an earlier medieval church dedicated to Saint Michael. The church cost £5,000 (£330,000 as of 2011).^[4] The tower was completed in 1907.^[2]

Architecture

Exterior

St Mary's is constructed in rubble stone with sandstone dressings, and it has slated roofs.^[2] Its architectural style is Transitional Norman.^[3] The plan is cruciform with a tower at the crossing and an organ chamber to its south. To the west of the crossing is a four-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, and a north porch. To the east of the crossing is a chancel. On the north side of the tower is a four-stage stair turret with a conical roof. The middle stage of the tower has lancet windows, and in the top stage are louvred lancets flanking clock faces. On the south side is blind arcading. The parapet is stepped at the corners. Along the sides of aisles, clerestories and chancel are more lancet windows. At the east end is a five-light window with plate tracery, and at the west end is a rose window, also with plate tracery.^[2]

Interior

Inside the church are arcades with pointed arches. The font is constructed in black and burgundy marble, and the pulpit is in sandstone; both are in Early English style. In the south wall of the chancel is a recess, and in the north wall is an aumbry. The chancel is floored with tiles. The choir stalls and reading desks are in Arts and Crafts style. The reredos, inserted in 1929, is in Italian alabaster, and depicts the Passion of Christ. Most of the stained glass was made by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster. Other windows were made by Jones and Willis, based on designs by Edward Burne-Jones.^[2] The two-manual organ was built in 1870 by Gray and Davison. It was enlarged in about 1913 and again in about 1920 by the same firm. In 1969 the organ was rebuilt by Wood Wordsworth and Company.^[5]

See also

• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin

References

1. ^ St Mary, Betws-y-coed, Diocese of Bangor, http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/bangor/diocese/parish_details/arllechwedd/stmarybetwsycoed.html, retrieved 9 June 2011 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} St Mary's Church, Betws-y-Coed, Cadw, http://jura.rcahms.gov.uk/cadw/cadw_eng.php?id=3640, retrieved 9 June 2011 
3. ^ ^{a b} Price, James (1998), Sharpe, Paley and Austin: A Lancaster Architectural Practice 1836–1942, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies, p. 80, ISBN 1-86220-054-8 
4. ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth.
5. ^ Caernarfonshire (Gwynedd), Betws-y-Coed, St. Mary, Holyhead Road (N11669), British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N11669, retrieved 9 June 2011