St Mary's Church in Betws-y-Coed was built in 1872?3 to replace the old church that had become too small for the growing number of visitors to the parish. It is an outstanding church, designed by the architects Paley & Austin of Lancaster. The style adopted the noble Transitional between Romanesque and Early English and features a monumental crossing tower, with blind arcading on the south and a stair-turret on the north. The clock stage was added in 1907, and instead of the steep pyramidal roof originally proposed for the tower, an invisible much shallower one was added behind the parapets. The catslide roof to the south transept is particularly striking. The eastern window has plate tracery, and the western is a rose window.

Source: Haslam, Orbach and Voelcker (2009), The Buildings of Wales: Gwynedd. Pevsner Architectural Guide, page 267.

RCAHMW, October 2009