Kinder Beuno Church

The title is a typo but I quite like it so Im going to leave it!

  The autumn colours always make a great background for graveyards and whilst some might find it a little morbid these kind of places are a testament to how we have treated are dearly departed over the centuries!

This place was rather special in a different area of wales than I usually go; A bit more rural  and straight away I  noticed something a little strange as I was walking up the exterior of the building.

I have not seen anything like this before and can only assume that its some kind of very early private  crypt ! Being an explorer and a lover of dark places my mind was filled with wild concepts of it being an underground tunnel with rows and rows of tombs! Got a little carried away as sadly it wasn’t.

Its was a double crypt not buried traditionally but rather the area around it was gated and the earth removed and the tombs lowered in and left uncovered! Hopefully I’ll find out the reason for this in due course!

St Beuno  has been part of the friends of friendless churches in 19999 following its closure, Set in a sea of slate headstones (traditional for this area) tomb chests,It looks like a small plain church form the outside  but this places has medieval stained glass and 19th century fixtures and fittings. There are carvin there by Constance Greaves who created a screen, angel lectern and an eagle the angle was a representation of Clough Williams Ellis’s granddaughter who was a relation to Constance .  The screen was designed by architect John Douglas of Chester who built the carvers house. Had I known this upon visiting I would have have snapped an exterior shot of that also! The centre of the church where the congregation sits  is 14th century and from  the steps leading up to the alter is 15th century.

 

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