St Mary's Church

St Mary’s Church stands in a quiet churchyard about ninety metres from a country lane near Dwyran on Anglesey. The building is a small medieval parish church, probably built in the 15th century with only minor changes since. Inside, a 12th-century carved stone font and a 13th-century decorated coffin lid survive from earlier times. The single bell in the west-end bellcote carries the date 1582 and the initials AMN repeated three times. The historian Henry Rowlands served as vicar here at the end of the 17th and start of the 18th centuries, while the churchyard holds the grave of Maurice Wilks, inventor of the Land Rover. The church is one of five in a combined parish and holds services once a month between April and September. After falling into disrepair in the 19th century, it was repaired without major alteration, unlike many Anglesey churches rebuilt at the time. In 1968 it was given Grade II* listed status as a good example of a simple late-medieval church. Antiquarians such as Harry Longueville Jones and Angharad Llwyd described its font and coffin lid as remarkable survivals from earlier centuries. Inside, the nave and chancel share the same space, separated only by a 19th-century wooden screen with wrought-iron gates. The sanctuary steps and altar base are edged with patterned encaustic tiles, and the roof’s seven bays of exposed timbers span the small interior. Two-light windows with trefoil heads light the north and south walls, while the 12th-century gritstone font shows zig-zag carving and three cross-decorated sides. The 13th-century coffin lid, turned upside down on the north wall, bears a carved cross and foliage, and further plain lids once lay on the floor.