St Mary, Dolgellau

Name:
St Mary, Dolgellau
Record Type:
Parish Church
Church code:
2508
Diocese:
Bangor
Archdeaconry:
Meirionnydd
Parish:

Statutory Designation Information

Listed Building?
This is a Grade II Listed Building
Scheduled Monument?
There is no Scheduled Monument within the curtilage or precinct

National Park

The church is in the following National Park: Snowdonia

Conservation Area

The church is in the following Conservation Area: Central Dolgellau

Buildings At Risk Status

On Buildings At Risk Register?
This church is not on the Buildings at Risk Register
 

Approximate Date

Approximate Date:
Post Medieval

Exterior Image

St Mary's Church Dolgellau
Caption:
St Mary's Church Dolgellau
Description:
View of St Mary's Church looking towards the south side
Year / Date:
2016
Copyright:
Jeff Buck, Geograph
Originator:
Tina Andrew

Summary Description

The Grade II listed St Mary’s Church sits at the historic core of the “old town” of Dolgellau with its wonderful uniformity of building materials - locally quarried stone in shades of green to brown with grey/blue roof slates. It dates from 1716, although there is documentary evidence of an earlier medieval church on the same site in 1254. The new church was reputedly built around the old one so that services could continue, although there no physical evidence of this earlier structure, apart from a window mullion set into the churchyard wall and a fourteenth century effigy of a local Lord (Meurig ab Ynyr Fychan of Nannau) sited in the northeast window recess. Architecturally, the church is Georgian in style with tall arched windows in the north and south aisles, an apsidal chancel at the east end and tower at the west end. Unusually, the nave and aisles are divided by an arcade of wooden columns, The church is built from a locally quarried brown grey slatey stone cut into regular blocks which overlap at the corners to form quoins. The crenellated tower is of rubble stone construction – possibly medieval in origin and remodelled in the early 17C. The vestry (adjoining the tower) was added in the early 19C and a modern meeting room and kitchen added in 1992 in the west end of the nave. The church is surrounded by its churchyard, which contains a variety of headstones, box tombs and monuments. Opposite the south porch is a Grade II listed sundial. The churchyard gates & railing opposite the Old Courthouse are also Grade II listed. Main references: Pevsner Buildings of Wales - Gwynedd and the list descriptions at the bottom of this page.

Visiting and Facilities

The church is open for worship.
Work in progress - can you help?
 

Church Website

Church Website:
Work in progress - can you help?

Sources and Further Information

View information on worship and access at this church on the Church In Wales web site
Tina Andrew (2016) St Mary's Church Dolgellau [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
St Mary's Church Dolgellau
Looking towards the south elevation of St Mary's Church.
Cadw (1990) Historic Wales Report http://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=en&id=5064 [Digital Archive/Document]
Cadw listed building description for St Mary's Church Dolgellau
Cadw (1990) Historic Wales Report http://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=en&id=5065 [Digital Archive/Document]
Cadw listed building description for sundail in St Mary's Churchyard
Cadw (1990) Historic Wales Report http://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=en&id=5063 [Digital Archive/Document]
Cadw listed building description for gates & railings in St Mary's Churchyard
Tina Andrew (2016) St Mary's Church Dolgellau [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
St Mary's Church Dolgellau
Looking towards the east end of St Mary's Church from the nave.
Stained Glass in Wales (2016) St Mary's Church Dolgellau http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/site/154 [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
This is the entry from the Stained Glass in Wales database for St Mary's Church Dolgellau.