The name or dedication of the church.
This identifies the church type. Most churches are parish churches which means they serve a specific parish or area. Other types such as chapel, daughter and mission are mostly historic designations as many are now also parish churches. Please note that former churches are no longer used for worhsip and may be in private ownership.
A unique identification number given to every church.
The name of the diocese in which the church is located.
The name of the archdeaconry in which the church is located.
This is the legal name of the parish as given by the Church Commissioners.
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There are 3 levels of listing: Grade I, II* & II. The majority of buildings which are of special interest are Grade II. A much smaller number of particularly important buildings are listed as Grade II*. Buildings of exceptional interest (approx 2% of the total number of listed buildings) are Grade I.
Ancient monuments and archaeological remains of national importance are protected by law. Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service is responsible for compiling a schedule (list) of these ancient monuments, some of which can be found in churches and churchyards. Examples can include churchyard crosses and the archaeological remains of previous churches or buildings on the site.
There are three National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacons. These protect 20 percent of the land in Wales, including precious landscapes, habitats, villages and heritage sites.
There are over 500 conservation areas in Wales. They are designated by local planning authorities for their special architectural and historic interest.
The Buildings at Risk register is managed by Cadw (the Welsh Government’s historic environment service) in order to identify the number and type of listed buildings at risk in Wales.
It is often extremely difficult to determine a precise date of construction for a church as many have been extensively altered over time. Church Heritage Cymru therefore shows a date range within which a church is believed to have been constructed. The dates are as follows: Early Medieval (pre 1066), Medieval (post 1066 to 1540), Post Medieval (1540 to 1837), Victorian/Pre WWI (1837 to 1914) and Modern (post 1914).
The name/dedication of the church and its location.
A brief description of the image
The date the image was created.
Details of any copyright are displayed here.
The name of the person who uploaded the image.
This is a very brief summary of the church's main features. More detailed nformation can be found in the other fields and pages (tabs) in this database.
Useful information is displayed here for people wishing to visit the church. This may include things like opening hours, catering & toilet facilities, parking, etc.
If the church has its own website the details will be displayed here.
Any further sources of information for the church will be listed here (eg. links to other historic databases).
This is the Ordnance Survey (OS) reference for the location of the church. Some locations will be approximate as this data is continuously being refined and updated.
This is the name of the Local Authoirity within which the church is located.
This describes how the church relates to its immediate and wider environment, sometimes called its setting. It describes how the church contributes to its landscape or townscape and how these things collectively contribute to the character of the area.
Dolgellau is the historic county of town of Merioneth, now part of the larger county of Gwynedd. It is located between the Wnion River to the north and the Arran River to the east, and lies within the Snowdonia National Park. It is situated just off the A470, one of the major routes in Wales, linking Llandudno in the north with Cardiff in the south. It originated as a modest native Welsh settlement in the late 13C, sited in a favourable position by a river crossing and serving as an economic frontier between the sheep and cattle grazing of the uplands and the good arable lands of the lowlands. In the following century it became the seat of the local commote (or hundred court) and a market was established. The town continued to thrive and by the 16C the wool trade was firmly established along with its development as an administrative centre (Quarter & Great Sessions were held here in later years).
The post-medieval era saw more growth and by the 17C, Dolgellau was becoming more urban than rural in form. The earliest surviving buildings reflect this, consisting of a distinctive vernacular rural type (one and a half storeys, hipped or gabled dormer windows and gable end or lateral chimneys), distributed throughout the town from its central core to the slopes on the west of the Arran river. Larger town houses were built in the 17C & 18C, including St Mary’s Church in 1716, reflecting the importance of town at this time. By the 19C the densely packed central core of the town was starting to be redeveloped with new civic buildings such as goal, courthouse and town hall, workhouse and police station.
The growing importance of the textile industry in Dolgellau in the 19C can still be seen in the town today with some of the three and four storey buildings showing evidence of “loom lofts” on the upper floors. A few small purpose built factories, mills and warehouses also survive from this time - now converted to residential or commercial use. The arrival of the railway in 1867 increased the building of shops, hotels and villas in the town, catering for both tourists and residents alike. The late 19C in particular saw extensive rebuilding and new building, with new street patterns laid out in the centre of town and a major expansion to the east. Expansion in the 20C saw major house building taking place to the north of the old town and to east of the River Arran.
St Mary’s Church itself is situated in the historic core of the “old town” with its wonderful uniformity of building materials - locally quarried stone in shades of green to brown with grey/blue roof slates. The street plan is a mixture of small narrow winding roads interspersed with open squares. The church sits in its own churchyard and is bordered by Marian Road to the west and Lombard Street to the south. Both Marian Road and Lombard Street are predominately residential, consisting of two and three storeys buildings, although the “church end” of the latter runs into Queens Square, which is a mixture of commercial and retail properties. The remaining perimeter of the churchyard on the east side adjoins the rear of the mixed use buildings on the west side of Lion Street, while to the north a small housing development is currently under construction.
Reference: Cadw publication: Dolgellau - Understanding Urban Character
This is a description of the ground plan of the church.
If known, the dimensions (measurements) of the church ground plan will be displayed here.
If the footrprint (area) of the church is known, it will be displayed here.
A description of the history and archaeology of the church and its site.
St Mary's Church 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.
A description of the exterior of the church and the main features of the churchyard.
Architecturally, the church is Georgian in style (and thus a rarity in Wales), with tall arched windows in the north and south aisles, an apsidal chancel at the east end and tower at the west end. The church is built from a locally quarried brown grey slatey stone cut into regular blocks (more commonly used in lintels on the other buildings in the town), which overlap at the corners to form quoins. The window quoins have a similar treatment. 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.
The shape of the St Mary’s churchyard suggests it may once have been curvilinear in form, although it is now more irregular, possibly due to encroachment by neighbouring buildings over the years. It has entrances in Lombard Street and Marian Road, both with wrought iron gates and a mixture of railings and stone walls along its perimeter. The churchyard contains a variety of headstones, box tombs and monuments. A 1835 Grade II listed sundial, situated opposite the south porch, contributes to the group value with the church.
Note: a full list of exterior features for St Mary's Church can be seen by clicking on the listed buildings description in the Sources & Further Information section at the bottom of the Core Details page.
Information about any noteable architects, artists, people, or events associated with the church.
Information about any important features and building fabric.
If known, a list of the church's major building material/s will be displayed here.
Any renewable energy systems the church is using will be listed here.
A brief description of the image.
Copyright details.
The name of the person who inputted the image.
This section gives a general description of the interior of the church. Further details of any important internal fixtures and fittings will be listed below.
Internally, St Mary’s has a wide “flattened” barrel vaulted timber ceiling and unusually, the nave and aisles are divided by an arcade of wooden columns, hauled over the hills from Dinas Mawddy by a team of oxen! The aisles and nave retain the majority of their dark wood late 19C pews and there are numerous 18C and 19C wall monuments. The beautiful stained glass windows are a particular feature of St Mary’s with three by the well known firm of Clayton & Bell, dating from the 1860s. A restoration in 1864 (commemorated by an inscription in Welsh on a slate tablet over the south door) saw the windows in the chancel altered and a new central one inserted in 1901 by the Gothic Revival Architect, G F Bodley. The last substantial remodelling at St Mary’s were completed in 1992 when a multi-purpose first floor meeting room and kitchen was inserted at the rear of the church with robing room underneath. The full-length windows of the meeting room mirror the apsidal chancel and overlook the nave. It is approached via a wide staircase (with chair lift) from the south porch with a disabled toilet opposite.
Note: a full list of interior features for St Mary's Church can be seen by clicking on the listed buildings description in the Sources & Further Information section at the bottom of the Core Details page.
Information about the church's important internal fixtures and fittings.
Information about the church's important moveable items and artworks.
A description of the ecology of the churchyard.
Information about the presence of bats in the church building or churchyard.
Records whether the church has been consecrated.
Records whether there have been burials in the churchyard.
Records whether the churchyard is still being used for burials.
Records whether there are any war graves in the churchyard.
Any important churchyard structures will be listed here.
Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship of the church to its surrounding area and helps place it within its wider landscape context.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the significance of the historic building fabric of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the historic significance of the interior of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship between the church and its community.