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St Mary's Church, Gyffeilliog

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NPRN309577
Map ReferenceSJ05NE
Grid ReferenceSJ0589057830
Unitary (Local) AuthorityDenbighshire
Old CountyDenbighshire
CommunityCyffylliog
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodPost Medieval
Description

The present church of St Mary was built in the 15th century. It was restored in 1876 and again later in 1904. The interior of church has been extensively modernised, and no trace remains of the wallpaintings which were mentioned in Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1876.  These consisted of the "Crowning of the Virgin" on the south wall, and figures and an inscription on the north wall. 

The "Crowning of the Virgin" was composed of three panels, the outer panels showed censing angels with feathered clothing and a background of pomegranate pattern.  The central panel depicted four figures, the largest of which had one hand raised in blessing, the smallest had both hands raised and wore a crown.  It is thought to be either the Coronation of the Virgin by the Holy Trinity or the Presentation in the Temple, and the details suggest a date of 15th century.  These paintings were found in 1876 and later destroyed.

The paintings on the north wall included a helmeted figure and other subjects with an undeciphered Hebrew inscription.  It is thought to have been an 18th-century depiction of Moses and Aaron.  These paintings had been destroyed by 1876.
 

Sources include:
Archaeologia Cambrensis 1876, 75
DE/Ecclesiastical/SJ05NE
RCAHMW Wallpaintings database. 2004.09.10/RCAHMW/SLE
Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 126.
 

RCAHMW 2021