St Margaret's Church, Bodelwyddan, nicknamed the Marble Church, is a Decorated Gothic Style parish church in the lower Vale of Clwyd in Denbighshire, Wales and is visible for many miles because its spire rises to 202 feet. It lies just off the A55 trunk road.
The church was erected by Lady Margaret Willoughby de Broke (daughter of Sir John Williams of nearby Bodelwyddan Castle) in memory of her husband, Henry Peyto-Verney, 16th Baron Willoughby de Broke. She laid the foundation stone on 24 July 1856 and the new church designed by John Gibson was consecrated by the Bishop of St Asaph on 23 August 1860 after construction at a cost of £60,000. The new parish of Bodelwyddan was created on 3 August 1860, from the communities of Bodelwyddan, Faenol and Pengwern, which until that date had been part of the parish of St Asaph.[1] When it was first built, it was nicknamed the 'Pearl of the Vale'.
The church contains fourteen varieties of marble including pillars made of Belgian Red marble, a nave entrance made from Anglesey marble and shafts of Languedoc marble on bases of Purbeck marble.[2] It also contains elaborate woodwork, and in the tower can be found windows of stained glass on the north and south sides, featuring Saint Margaret and Saint Kentigern.[3] It is a popular tourist destination. The church was designated with Grade II* listed status in November 1962.[4]
Until the latter part of the 20th century the church, and in particular its high steeple, was very distinctive because it was so white. With the passage of time, pollution has resulted in the colour becoming more grey, and therefore more like other stone buildings.
Local government reorganisation resulted in the church being in Flintshire until 1974, in Clwyd from 1974 until 1996, and since then in Denbighshire.
Immediately to the west of the church is Kinmel Camp, which was a military camp located in the grounds of Kinmel Hall. The camp was used by Canadian troops during the First World War. The churchyard contains the graves of numerous victims of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–19 in the camp. On 4–5 March 1919 a riot occurred in the camp when the ship allocated to return the troops to Canada was diverted to carry food supplies to Russia. Five Canadian soldiers were killed in the disturbances, four of whom were buried in St Margaret's Churchyard, with the fifth, Gunner John Frederick Hickman, being buried in Dorchester, New Brunswick. A common story is that they were executed for mutiny, but this has been denied by the Canadian Department of National Defence.[5]
In total there are 112 Commonwealth service personnel commemorated here from World War I. More than 80 of the graves are Canadian, and there are also Special Memorial headstones to 4 British soldiers who were buried at St Peter's Churchyard in Holywell. There are 2 war graves of British servicemen from World War II.[6] There are multiple post World War II graves in the churchyard, including a grave of a Welsh Guards Lance Corporal who died during the Falklands War on board the RFA Sir Galahad.[7][8]
Footnotes
↑ "Bodelwyddan". Clwyd Family History Society – Bodelwyddan. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
↑ St Margarets, Bodelwyddan The Marble Church. Norwich: Jarrold Publishing. 1997. p.8.
↑ The Ecclesiologist; The Ecclesiological Society, February 1860, pp.349-51
Denbighshire is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthin is the administrative centre. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name.
Until 1974, Flintshire, also known as the County of Flint, was an administrative county in the north-east of Wales, later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales.
Until 1974, Denbighshire, or the County of Denbigh, was an administrative county in the north of Wales, later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was a maritime county, that was bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Flintshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, to the south by Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfonshire.
Rhyl is a seaside town and community within the historic boundaries of Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North East Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd.
Bodelwyddan is a village, electoral ward and community in Denbighshire, Wales, approximately 5 miles (8 km) South of Rhyl. The Parish includes several smaller hamlets such as Marli and Pengwern.
Penley is a village in the County Borough of Wrexham, in Wales close to the border with Shropshire, England, and had a population of 606 as of the 2011 census.
Kinmel Park Training Area is an army training ground in what was once the grounds of Kinmel Hall, near Abergele, in Conwy county borough, Wales. The camp was built in 1915 to train troops during the First World War and was later used to house troops at the end of the conflict. A riot broke out in the camp among Canadian forces in 1919, leading to the deaths of several soldiers.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Halkyn is to the north of the village of Halkyn, Flintshire, Wales. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of St Asaph. The church is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.
Christ Church is a church of the Church in Wales, situated in Rossett, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade II listed building. Christ Church is an active Anglican church in the Alyn Mission Area, the archdeaconry of Wrexham and the diocese of St Asaph.
St Garmon's Church is in the centre of the village of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl, Denbighshire, Wales. It is an active Anglican church in the diocese of St Asaph, the archdeaconry of St Asaph and the deanery of Dyffryn Clwyd. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.
St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden, is in the village of Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales. It is the parish church of the rectorial benefice of Hawarden in the deanery of Hawarden, the archdeaconry of Wrexham, and the diocese of St Asaph. The church has associations with W. E. Gladstone and his family, and is designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican parish church in Mold, Flintshire, Wales, and a Grade I listed building. It belongs to the Deanery of Mold, the Archdeaconry of Wrexham and the Diocese of St Asaph of the Church in Wales. It has historical associations with the Stanley family, Earls of Derby and displays heraldic symbols of this, including an Eagle and Child assumed by the family in the 15th century, and the Three Legs of Man, derived from a time when the Stanleys were Lords of Mann. Under Father Rex Matthias, the previous incumbent, the church took on an Anglo-Catholic style of liturgy.
St Berres' Church, Llanferres, is in the village of Llanferres, Denbighshire, Wales on the A494 road between Mold and Ruthin. It is an Anglican church in the Bro Famau Group of Churches, the Mission Area of Mold, the archdeaconry of Wrexham and the diocese of St Asaph. The church is designated by Cadw as a Grade II listed building.
St Michael's Church, Trelawnyd, is in the village of Trelawnyd, Flintshire, Wales. It is an active Anglican parish church in the benefice of Dyserth and Trelawnyd and Cwm, the deanery of St Asaph, the archdeaconry of St Asaph, and the diocese of St Asaph. The church is designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building.
St Matthew's Church, is in the town of Buckley, Flintshire, Wales. It is an active Anglican parish church in the Borderlands Mission Area, the archdeaconry of Wrexham and the diocese of St Asaph. The church is a Grade II* listed building.
Kinmel Bay and Towyn is a community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It is located on the coast bordering Denbighshire, from which it is separated by the River Clwyd, and is 2.6 miles (4.2 km) west of Rhyl, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north east of Abergele and 14.1 miles (22.7 km) east of Conwy. The community includes the holiday resorts of Kinmel Bay and Towyn. It is crossed by the Afon Gele, which flows from west to east, before joining the River Clwyd on the eastern boundary. At the 2001 census the community had a population of 7,864, increasing to 8,460 at the 2011 census. Before being named Kinmel Bay there was a small settlement called Foryd, which is the name of the bridge crossing into Rhyl. The area is very Anglicized, with well over half the population having been born in England.
Faenol Fawr is an Elizabethan H-plan mansion with crow-stepped gables. The house is situated immediately to the north of Glan Clwyd Hospital in the parish of Bodelwyddan in the historic county of Flintshire, but now in Denbighshire. It was formerly in the township of Faenol, which until 1860 was in the parish of St. Asaph.
St Collen's Church is a parish church in the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. The first church on the site was founded by Collen in the 6th century. Nothing of this building remains. A new church was built in the 13th century, in the Early English Gothic style. This was developed in the succeeding centuries, and then almost completely rebuilt in the 19th century. The architect of the Victorian reconstruction was Samuel Pountney Smith, who retained little of the earlier church, with the exception of the tower. The churchyard contains the grave of the Ladies of Llangollen, Eleanor Charlotte Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, and their servant Mary Carryl, who lived at the nearby Plas Newydd. In November 2021 the first blessing of a gay partnership in a Church in Wales church was held at St Collen's. The church is an active parish church in the Diocese of St Asaph. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.
Denbighshire is a county in the north of Wales. It covers an area of 844 km2 (326 sq mi) and in 2021 the population was approximately 96,000.
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