IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Maes Y Llan, ABERGELE, LL22 9JA

Former vicarage, now the "Church Manor Care Home". Built 1872-3, see Image] for more details.

On the main road in Towyn

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

A very fine church, consecrated in 1873, which seems to be out of place in its present surroundings. The detail of the slates on the roof is a particularly fine example of the craft.

The war memorial is next to the south wall of Image http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=st-marys-and-towyn-war-memorial for a list of names.

Situated next door to St Mary's Church.

Adjacent to the church, and bearing a stone dating construction to 1871, is this fine school. Obviously it was designed as part of the same integrated development as it has an identical and beautifully patterned slate roof. The plaque indicates that it is now run by the county youth service as a meeting place and resource centre.

Near St Mary's Church

Adjacent to St Mark's Church.