England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanddeusant St Marcellus & St Marcellinus

The Parish

The parish of Llanddeusant (often spelt with just a single "d") lies in northwestern Anglesey about 9 miles southwest of the coastal town of Amlwch.  Llanddeusant is a small and rather spread out village which lies in lanes about 2 miles east of the A5025 road which links Amlwch with Valley. The village largely consists of two distinct and separate portions, one gathered around the church, the other almost a half mile northeast around a crossroads. This central area of the island is dominated by small fields containing both pastures and small areas with crops and this mixed farming regime would have dominated at the time of this transcript. Gently undulating terrain, the area is drained by a series of tributaries of the Agon Alaw which flows southwestwards, all meeting to reach the Irish Sea through Llanfachraeth. Llanddeusant is sited at around 40 metres above the sea with the northeastern crossroads some 10 metres higher, just east of that crossroads is the local high spot at 58 metres. Llanddeusant parish was fairly typically sized for the island, covering a fraction over 2,000 acres it would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanddeusant is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Marcellus & St Marcellinus' church sits on the northern side of the main lane which forms the spine of the village. Sadly the early church, mentioned in gazetteers, a lancet-windowed example from the Early English Gothic era, was demolished and today's church rebuilt in 1868, thus not even the venue for these marriages. A large church and with a tower, a rare example on the island and unusually placed at the southwestern corner, the church is built from a local, greenish stone. Clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner its entry covers bare 4 lines of largely descriptive text. The broad lane has adequate parking immediately northwest of the main entrance which is formed by a set of metal gates. Whilst the church nestles tight against the northern edge of its churchyard this thankfully does not impede the favoured southern aspects for the photographer.