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St Benedict's Church, Gyffin

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NPRN43691
Map ReferenceSH77NE
Grid ReferenceSH7765076940
Unitary (Local) AuthorityConwy
Old CountyCaernarfonshire
CommunityConwy
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodMedieval
Description

St Benedict's Church is originally thirteenth century in date, but there have been a number of later additions to the earliest part, the eastern section of the nave. The chancel is mostly fifteenth century with a possibly thirteenth century southern section. The south porch was added in the fifteenth or sixteenth cenury and the southern chapel in the sixteenth. The wooden arcade to the north side of the chancel was added in the seventeenth century. There are nineteenth century windows and a thirteenth century font.

The most significant feature of the church is the late fifteenth century painted chancel ceiling. The sixteen panels are covered with faded paintings of saints, full-length, in red, olive and grey, against a foliage background. They are the only comprehensible fifteenth century church paintings in Gwynedd. Records also survive of black letter texts in Welsh over the parclose screen, though there are now lost.

Sources include:
Haslam, Orbach and Voelcker (2009), The Buildings of Wales: Gwynedd. Pevsner Architectural Guide, page 382.
Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 114–17.

RCAHMW 2021