Towyn, St Mary's Church (Eglwys y Santes fair)

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 21 Apr 2015

The church, dedicated to St Mary lies immediately to the east of the Sandbank Road crossroads at the centre of Towyn, on the northern side of the main A548 Coast Road from Rhyl to Abergele. It enclosed by a rectangular churchyard of approx ¾ acres which is enclosed by low limestone walls with flush half-round copings, extending across the front of the former school building. St Mary’s church was built of polygonal pick-dressed local Carboniferous limestone in 1872-3. It was funded by Robert Bamford Hesketh of Gwrych Castle as part of a group with the adjoining vicarage (now a Nursing Home) and Church School, to serve the newly formed parish of Towyn. When the church was consecrated on 17th June 1873, the parish had a population of just 453, compared with almost 10000 today. The style of the church is a copy of the early decorative period from a design by George Edward Street, RA, a renowned Victorian Architect. The church comprises a gable bell tower, which rises above the choir and is lighted by louvre windows breaking the outline of the roof. The church is notable the distinctive tiling on the roof which is varied in colour by blue and green slates laid in a lozenge pattern. Entrance to the church is gained through the main entrance porch on the south side of the building. The fabric of the church was damaged by the major tidal flood which affected Towyn in February 1990. It is still possible to see the mark where the water settled for several days, in the soft stone around the main door frame. St Mary’s Church is now listed as a Grade II* building of notable interest “an important design and the key element in the outstanding group of contemporary buildings designed by a pre-eminent Victorian church architect” (Cadw ID: 250 http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-250-church-of-st-mary-with-churchyard-walls-kin#.VTyzImd0x_s British Listed Buildings). http://parish.churchinwales.org.uk/a084/ The Church in Wales http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=st-mary-s-church-towyn-war-memorial History Points

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