St Mary And St Bodfan Church, Llanaber

St Mary's Church or its full name St Mary and St Bodfan Church is a church located in the village of Llanaber in Wales. St Mary and Bodfan is a Grade I listed building, which despite substantial restoration work in 1860, is a well-preserved 13th-century building with lancet windows and arch-braced collar beams (16th-century) to the chancel roof. Ancient maps refer to the church as St Bodfan's and an association with the saint is preserved in the name of the nearby Bodfan Farm, but the church is more popularly known as St Mary's. The current buildingThe present church dates from the early thirteenth century. One of its great benefactors was Hywel ap Meredydd ap Cynan, the Lord of Ardudwy, the commot which has given its name to the Rural Deanery of Ardudwy in which the Parish of Llanaber is situated. Hywel was a great grandson of Owain Gwynedd and a near relative of Llewelyn the Great. The plan of the church consists of a nave, with north and south aisles, and a long narrow chancel. Entering the church by the south porch, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, is the south doorway, a still-standing example of Early English architecture. This doorway, built of yellow sandstone, is deeply recessed and is composed of six shafts on either side. The north door opposite is much narrower and of simple design. The nave is divided on either side into five arcades. They show the transition from Norman architecture to the Early English Style. The piers are Norman in character with foliated capitals from which spring pointed arches. The four clerestory windows on either side of the nave are examples of Early English lancets, whilst the two long lancets of the west wall are part of the nineteenth-century restoration.

St Mary's Church or its full name St Mary and St Bodfan Church is a church located in the village of Llanaber in Wales. St Mary and Bodfan is a Grade I listed building, which despite substantial restoration work in 1860, is a well-preserved 13th-century building with lancet windows and arch-braced collar beams (16th-century) to the chancel roof. Ancient maps refer to the church as St Bodfan's and an association with the saint is preserved in the name of the nearby Bodfan Farm, but the church is more popularly known as St Mary's. The current buildingThe present church dates from the early thirteenth century. One of its great benefactors was Hywel ap Meredydd ap Cynan, the Lord of Ardudwy, the commot which has given its name to the Rural Deanery of Ardudwy in which the Parish of Llanaber is situated. Hywel was a great grandson of Owain Gwynedd and a near relative of Llewelyn the Great. The plan of the church consists of a nave, with north and south aisles, and a long narrow chancel. Entering the church by the south porch, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, is the south doorway, a still-standing example of Early English architecture. This doorway, built of yellow sandstone, is deeply recessed and is composed of six shafts on either side. The north door opposite is much narrower and of simple design. The nave is divided on either side into five arcades. They show the transition from Norman architecture to the Early English Style. The piers are Norman in character with foliated capitals from which spring pointed arches. The four clerestory windows on either side of the nave are examples of Early English lancets, whilst the two long lancets of the west wall are part of the nineteenth-century restoration.