Discover St Mary’s

Two buildings dominated Mold in the 13th century, the Norman Castle on Bailey Hill and the Church. Of unknown date, that earlier church is mentioned in the Norwich Taxation of 1253. The present building arose at a decisive watershed in British history, the emergence of the Tudor Dynasty with the accession of Henry Tudor as Henry V11 following the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Henry’s mother was Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. She was the second wife of Lord Thomas Stanley, Lord of the Manor of Mold and an extensive landowner in North East Wales. Margaret Beaufort was wealthy, learned and devout. She and her husband endowed colleges in Oxford and Cambridge and were responsible for the “Stanley” Churches at Mold and several nearby parishes.

Entering the South door we can feel  the emphasis and importance which the 15th Century builders placed on space and light, the special qualities of the Perpendicular style.  The 1856 font is surmounted by an 18th Century ironwork cross.   The west window was erected by William Marston of Bromfield Hall, who was in service to the Duke of Tuscany in the 1848 Italian revolution.   Looking down the length of the Nave we can appreciate the graceful, clustered columns, surmounted by elaborately carved quatrefoils and panelling.   Between the spring of the arches are angels bearing the  emblems of Christ’s passion and Stanley emblems and badges;  the Eagle’s Claw, Legs of Man and the Eagle and Child.   The curious string-course of animals running above the arches appears also on the outside of the Church.   The splendid nave roof was made by a local craftsman, Thomas Edwards, for the 1856 Gilbert Scott restoration, as were the carved pews.   The marble monument to Robert Davies of Llanerch, in the North West corner, is an impressive example of 18th century neo-classicism.

The North Aisle retains its original magnificent late 15th Century oak roof.   The left window above the vestry door commemorates Ellis ap David ap Rees, a Vicar of Mold who died in 1576.   Edward, the 3rd Earl of Derby, commemorated in the other window was Chamberlain of Chester under Elizabeth 1.   The next composite window to the right of the Vestry door is in memory of Richard Wilson the celebrated landscape artist who died in 1792 and is buried outside this window.   The next two windows relate to the Wynne Eyton family of Leeswood Hall.   The Lady Chapel (also a memorial to the fallen of the 1914- 18 War) contains a beautiful late 15th Century niche with an early 20th Century statue of Our Lady, but it may once have held “Y Ddelw Fyw” (“The Living Image”) which, when the Norman Tower was taken down in 1768, was discovered buried and destroyed on the instructions of the then Vicar as representing “a Popish Idol”.

The great Chancel arch marks the furthest extent of the original Stanley Church.   The door in the South wall of the Sanctuary, leading to a staircase, may imply that an upper room was planned, or a Rood Screen.  There is also evidence, more noticeable on the outside, that the original Chancel was intended to extend further to the East.  The present Sanctuary was added by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1856.   The organ, built by Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool was dedicated in 1972 and its outstanding tonal qualities have won it world-wide acclaim.   It replaced an organ built by the same company in 1923.   The organ case on the West wall is now redundant.

The South Chapel  or St John’s Chapel (known also as the Gwysaney Chapel) has a special air of tranquillity.   The carved stone niche to the right of the east window is particularly fine.   The small brass memorial to Robert Davies, who died in 1602, came from Gwysaney Hall Chapel.   Against the South wall can be found a fragment of the tomb of Gwenllian  whose father, Ieuan ap Dafydd, did homage to the Black Prince in 1301.    The first window in the South wall (in memory of Philip Davies Cooke of Gwysaney) shows Christ healing both body and mental suffering.   The next window (The Parable of the Talents) commemorates Henry Raikes of Llwynegrin Hall, whose uncle, Robert Raikes, founded the Sunday School movement.   The window in memory of John Wynne Eyton portrays the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, followed by a window commemorating Cecil Henry Raikes, MP, and First Secretary of the Mersey Railway Company.   The window to the left of the South door contains fragments of the original glass.

In harmonious blend  with the rest of the building, the tower was designed by Joseph Turner of Hawarden and built in 1773 to replace the original Norman tower.   A peal of six bells was cast by Rudhall of Gloucester in 1732 and augmented to a ring of eight in 2005 with the addition of bells cast at the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry in the Netherlands.

The present church of St Mary the Virgin stands on the site of an earlier church built, presumably by the Montalts sometime during their Lordship of Mold in the 12th or early 13th century. Records from the Norwich Taxation of Ecclesiastical Property show that a church of some sort did exist in Mold in 1253 and named Kenric as Rural Dean and probably also Rector of Mold at this time.

The building of the present church was initiated by Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, to commemorate the victory of her son, Henry Tudor, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Previously, in 1482, Margaret Beaufort had married Thomas Stanley, Lord of Mold, King of Man, and at that time, Steward of the Royal Household. Margaret became his second wife, while he was her third husband. Lord Stanley played a dubious part in Henry’s campaign for the English Crown, seemingly preferring to wait for a clear indication of who was most likely to win before declaring his own position. Henry Tudor met Richard III in battle at Bosworth Field, near Leicester, and after some cautious hesitation, when Richard’s cause seemed totally lost, Lord Stanley eventually joined his stepson , and tradition has it that he picked up the fallen crown and placed it upon Henry’s head.

Margaret Beaufort at Prayer

Lord, Stanley, as just reward for his pains, added the Earldom of Derby to his already considerable possessions in Wales and the Isle of Man. In thanksgiving for their good fortune, Lord Stanley and Margaret Beaufort endowed colleges at Oxford and Cambridge and undertook the rebuilding of several churches including St Mary’s Mold.

Other Churches in North Wales accredited to them are St Peter’s in Northop, All Saints Gresford, St Giles Wrexham and St Winifred’s Chapel in Holywell. The Stanley involvement is highlighted in by the number of Stanley crests and arms to be found in the churches. Lord Thomas Stanley was the last to call himself King of Man. Thereafter the Lords were called Lord of Man.

The Stanley Crest

The rebuilding of St Mary’s was never completed as originally intended. The proposed tall grand clerestory was thought to be too extravagant and was abandoned in favour of the shallow uninspiring clerestory that can be seen today. A grand chancel arch was built, but due to financial and political restrictions it remained blocked until opened by Scot in the nineteenth century. Rebuilding the Church was a slow business and continued well after the Reformation with contributions made by Robert Wharton, Bishop of St Asaph (1536 – 1554) and William Hughes, Bishop of St Asaph (1572 – 1600).

However, even with this input the completion of the church took a further 8 years.

F J Violet, writing in his Mold Gleanings in 1927, refers to the stone in the church carrying the inscription Fundamentum Ecclesiae Christmas 1597 – W. Eps”, which implies that the church was eventually completed, albeit a somewhat abbreviated version of the proposed, more extravagant structure, in 1597, well over a century after rebuilding had first begun!

The main body of the church was built in Cefn Sandstone in the late 15th Century, but without apse and porches. There was originally a 5-lighted central east window and a wrought iron rood screen.

 The interior of the church had an earth floor, open fireplaces or stoves and was disfigured by many and various box pews. There was also an unsightly musicians gallery at the west end. Some burials took place within the church  and benches were allocated  for the poorer classes next to the outer walls.

There are a great number of entries in the accounts regarding payments made to builders and carpenters for necessary maintenance work over the years, as one might expect, but it is only in 1742 that the results of a thorough structural survey show just how serious the situation had become. The record of the Vestry Meeting dated December 27th 1742 states:

“A survey has been taken and a report made that the roofs of the middle and south aisles are much decayed and in a dangerous condition and that the expense of repairing them would be very considerable and above what the inhabitants of the said parish can afford.”

It is interesting to recall that only 5 years previous to this report the church accounts for 1737 recall:

“whereas a sum of £95, being several benefactions for the use of the poor, also a sum of £50 were advanced and lent to the parishioners to enable them to make a new middle roof to the church”.

One can only hope that the roof was in fact repaired promptly after the survey revealed it to be dangerous, but other work was obviously neglected. For instance, the Rural Dean’s report in 1749 includes:

“The church is a stately building consisting of 3 larges aisles, but a very poor steeple some part of which is on props”.