St Marcella's
Church
is set in the Vale of Clwyd, less than one mile from
the town of 
Denbigh for which it was the parish church throughout the
medieval period. The church is also known as Llanfarchell in Welsh, and
Whitchurch or Eglwyswen after its original white-washed exterior that
could be seen from miles around, including from the town of Denbigh itself.
St Marcellas is in a glorious location with views across the vale toward
the rolling hills of the Clwydian range of mountains, and one can understand
why its patron saint Marchell the Virgin would have established
her hermitage here in the 7th Century. Treasured as the parish church
for many years St Marcella's was lavishly rebuilt in the local double-naved
style during the late 15th century, with an imposing tower and a noble
range of big ‘Perpendicular’ style
windows.
-----------------------------CLICK
TO ENLARGE THE PICTURES ---------------------------------
It was supplanted as Denbigh's parish church by St Hilary's, located
above the town centre, and from 1828 only burial services were held here.
In the early 20th Century it was restored, pews were removed,
plaster cleared, the screen restored, monuments cleaned, window masonry
repaired as was the tower, and timber work renewed.
But the exterior is more than matched by an equally impressive interior.
Slender central pillars and finely moulded arches rise to a pair of
grand hammer-beamed roofs, panelled and decked with angels. They rest
on stone corbels sculpted with beasts and more angels, and a stone frieze
also exuberantly decorated with flowers and heads and grotesques – a
boy pulling a donkey’s tail,
a fox and hare – all recently and vividly re-painted.
Monuments to the great and good of Denbighshire populate the floor of
the church. These include a magnificent painted alabaster monument of
Sir John Salusbury (d.1578) and his wife Jane; another monument depicts
Humphrey Llwyd (d.1568) Member of Parliament and scholar; while a brass
monument depicts Richard Myddelton (d.1575) with his wife and their sixteen
children, one of whom became Lord Mayor of London.
Ironically at the back
of the north aisle is a memorial to Twm o'r Nant, (the Welsh Shakespeare)
an 18th Century Welsh poet, actor, farmer, stone mason, and bankrupt
who made what money he had by satirizing the likes of his other church-bed-fellows
and gentle folk. Twm o'r Nant died in 1810 and lies in
the churchyard, where many still visit his grave.
St Marcella's Church is open the first Saturday of each month 10.00
am – noon,
Easter to October inclusive.
Directions: [ Map
of St Marcella's Church location ]
From the A55 take the A525 south near St Asaph at junction 27. Follow the A525
to the roundabout on the outskirts of Denbigh. Bear left and continue on the
A525 to the Ruthin Road roundabout. Bear left along Ffordd Eglwyswen. |
 |
