{"id":8,"date":"2014-01-16T12:08:34","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T12:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2014-02-09T11:18:35","modified_gmt":"2014-02-09T11:18:35","slug":"castell-y-bere","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/?page_id=8","title":{"rendered":"(1456) The Parish Church of St. Hywyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

(1456) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. HYWYN (Fig. 40, Plates\u00a010, I5, 16, 19) consists of two equal aisles separated by an\u00a0arcade of five bays; the N. aisle formed the original nave and\u00a0chancel. It is built of local rubble with gritstone dressings.<\/p>\n

\"40\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was the principal parish church of Lleyn, and was no doubt
\nmonastic in origin.Its canons provided the boat in which\u00a0Gruffydd ap Cynan escaped to Ireland from the Normans\u00a0ca. 1094,\u00a0and in their church they gave sanctuary to Gruffydd\u00a0ap Rhys of Deheubarth against Gruffydd ap Cynan and Henry\u00a0I in III5. They are termed secular in an agreement of 1252\u00a0with the canons regular of the abbey of Enlli (Bardsey. No.\u00a01518<\/a>) on sharing income from the neighbouring territory\u00a0known as the abbacy. Already constituted as a portionary\u00a0church, it remained so until the Reformation. finally shared\u00a0between abbey, rector and vicar. <\/p>\n

The evolution of the structure seems to have been as follows,\u00a0although the evidence is not conclusive as to details. The earliest\u00a0part extended almost the full length of the existing N. aisle,\u00a0and is represented by the lower walling on the W. and N.,\u00a0including- the present W. door and a blocked door on the N.,\u00a0both doorways being typical of the 12th century. There is no\u00a0clear joint in the N. wall. but a little E. of the blocked doorway\u00a0there is a change in the masonry accompanying a slight\u00a0alteration in alignment. The original form of the E. end is\u00a0unknown, but the comparatively short extension of the oldest\u00a0portion eastwards is perhaps slightly in favour of an apsidal\u00a0rather than a square end. In the 14th or 15th century the roof\u00a0was raised, the bell-cote on the W. gable constructed, and the\u00a0church lengthened. Later the S. aisle was added and the intervening\u00a0wall replaced by an arcade; a date early in the 16th\u00a0century seems probable, assuming that discrepancy in style\u00a0between the E. and the S. windows can be attributed to\u00a0different workshops. Repairs were to be made under the will\u00a0of Ieuan Griffith ap John but were not specified. <\/p>\n

During the 18th century the S.W. portion was used as a\u00a0school. and early in the 19th century the building had fallen into such disrepair that in 1841 it was abandoned in favour of\u00a0the new church (No. 1457<\/a>). It was restored, however, in 1868.\u00a0The roofs were renewed and re-slated, the windows repaired,\u00a0and a thick layer of internal plaster was applied.<\/p>\n

Architectural Description.-The N. Aisle (68 ft. by 19 ft.),\u00a0originally the nave and chancel, is structurally undivided apart\u00a0from two modern steps towards the E. end. The 12th-century\u00a0W. doorway (Plate 19) is round-headed with jambs and arch\u00a0of three chamfered orders; the imposts are simply moulded,\u00a0being slightly hollowed between upper and lower fillets\u00a0rounded at the edge; the bases are hidden by the modern\u00a0threshold. The stone is a yellow grit. also used in the quoins\u00a0and the N. doorway, now blocked. Over the head of the W.\u00a0door a modern hood-mould. has been inserted, and just above\u00a0this runs a shallow offset which cannot be coeval with the\u00a0doorway and may well represent a rebuild after a medieval\u00a0settlement or collapse (Plate 10). The design of the bell-cote\u00a0suggests that this rebuild took place in the 14th or 15th century,\u00a0possibly at the same time as this aisle was lengthened. The\u00a0bell-cote is a simple massive structure in line with the upper\u00a0part of the gable; it terminates in a long straight ridge and\u00a0contains one pointed bell-opening. It resembles that at Caerhun\u00a0(supra, Vol. I, No. 90).<\/p>\n

In the N. wall there is a blocked 12th-century doorway of\u00a0which little more than the head is now visible externally as\u00a0earth has accumulated against the base of the wall. It has a\u00a0semi-circular chamfered arch springing from plain imposts;\u00a0the rear-arch, also semi-circular, is formed of well-dressed\u00a0voussoirs like those ofthe W. doorway and of the same yellow\u00a0gritstone. Its internal threshold is now almost 2 ft. above the\u00a0floor. The masonry of the N. wall is uneven, but there is a\u00a0clear change at a level roughly the same as the offset
\nin the W. gable end. This difference is not clear to E. of the\u00a0blocked doorway. ,In what seems to be the added work here\u00a0is a blocked window slit. The N.E. corner contains some\u00a0quoin stones that are of the same yellow grit as the N. doorway\u00a0but apparently re-used.<\/p>\n

The E. window is of three trefoiled and ogee-headed lights\u00a0with vertical tracery within a pointed two-centred head.\u00a0The chamfered jambs are mostly original but the head and the\u00a0tracery have been restored in later 5th-century style. Above\u00a0the hood-mould are the remains of a two-centred relieving\u00a0arch, clearly intended for a narrower window than the present\u00a0one. There is no evidcnce for dating that early window, but its\u00a0presence shows that the extension of the church took place\u00a0before the addition of the S. aisle in the 16th century. Its\u00a0unusually low position may indicate that the gable has been\u00a0heightened, but there is no other evidence for this.<\/p>\n

The S. Aisle (69 ft. by 19 ft.) is clearly of one build, an\u00a0addition probably of the early 16th century. The E. window\u00a0is of five cinquefoiled and ogee-headed lights with vertical\u00a0tracery within a two-centred head, plain chamfered jambs\u00a0and a hood-mould. Its pointed arch matches that of the E.\u00a0window of the older aisle on the N. ; in other respects it could\u00a0be of the same date as the windows of very different design\u00a0in the S. wall. Of these the first two windows from the E.\u00a0are alike (Plate16), each of three uncusped pointed lights\u00a0within a four-centred head with a deep continuous cavetto,
\nboth internally and externally, under a horizontally stopped\u00a0hood-mould. Their chamfered mullions have been crudely\u00a0patched with cement. The third opening, now a window near\u00a0the W. corner, has been restored upon the original jambs,\u00a0moulded like those of the two windows to the E. but with\u00a0extra refinement and only externally; they have been traced\u00a02 ft. below ground without a sill being reached, but deep\u00a0enough to show that they belonged to a doorway. It may have
\nserved before the arcade was opened between the aisles; like\u00a0the two windows, however, it seems nearly contemporary\u00a0with the arcade, probably not older than the beginning of the\u00a016th century. It is shown as a rectangular window in a drawing\u00a0made before restoration. In the W. wall is a blocked window\u00a0opening, apparently square, which may date from the former\u00a0school here.<\/p>\n

The arcade of five bays (Plate 15), which replaces the S.\u00a0wall of the original church, has four-centred arches of two\u00a0moulded orders with a central ogee fillet. The octagonal piers\u00a0and semi-octagonal responds have plain faces but moulded\u00a0caps and bases which project boldly and are very well cut.\u00a0lt is probably of the early 16th century, having been opened\u00a0at the same time as the S. aisle was added.<\/p>\n

The roof of the N. aisle appears to be almost entirely modern, \u00a0although it may reproduce the original type of plain archbraced\u00a0truss. That over the S. aisle, though heavily restored,\u00a0contains much of the original 16th-century material. It is of\u00a0six bays with seven trusses, the first and last being set about\u00a03 ft. from the end walls. All the trusses are of single hammerbeam\u00a0type, their chamfered braces forming a four-centred\u00a0arch at the soffit; the third from the W. has two window-like\u00a0openings in the space between brace, principal and bracket,\u00a0the others a slightly cusped opening; in all trusses the raking\u00a0struts are cusped to form a quatrefoil between trefoils.<\/p>\n

Fittings.-Books:<\/em> for registers see p. cxxi. Font: a plain\u00a0octagonal gritstone bowl and pedestal; the base is moulded;\u00a02 ft. 11 ins. high, 2 ft. wide at lip; 15th- or 16th-century.
\nPlate:<\/em> V-shaped silver goblet; height 6 ins.; London dateletter\u00a01815; maker’s mark PB\/AB in square shield. This\u00a0presumably replaced the chalice inscribed ‘1574’ mentioned\u00a0in terriers of 1776 and 1808. Stoup:<\/em> lying loose, a plain stone\u00a0bowl, medieval, on modern support.
\nMiscellaneous: fragment of stone tracery, not from any\u00a0existing window; 15th-century.
\nFor general accounts see Arch. Camb.<\/em>, 1849, pp. 27-32;
\nTrans. Caerns. Hist. Soc<\/em>., XI (1950), pp. 5-35 (W. J. Elliss).<\/p>\n

SH 17322637 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 7 VI 59 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 43 S.E.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(1456) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. HYWYN (Fig. 40, Plates\u00a010, I5, 16, 19) consists of two equal aisles separated by an\u00a0arcade of five bays; the N. aisle formed the original nave and\u00a0chancel. It is built of local rubble with gritstone dressings. It was the principal parish church of Lleyn, and was no doubt monastic in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":318,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303,"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions\/303"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crwydro.co.uk\/aberdaron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}