England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Penmynydd St Gredifael

The Parish

The parish of Penmynydd lies in eastern Anglesey roughly 3 miles east of the administrative town of Llangefni. Penmynydd sits on the B5420 road which links Llangefni with Menai Bridge, and which used to be the main road crossing the island from the bridges to Holyhead. Penmynydd is a scattered community with no real centre, a series of properties sit atop a low hill above marshland to both northwest & southeast, with most scattered along the course of the B5420. The parish church sits a little over a quarter mile away from the notional centre of the settlement. The varying landscape with alternate bands of soft and hard rock criss-cross this part of the island from south west to northeast creating the marshlands and hills of this parish. That geology thus underlay the agriculture available with about a 3rd unsuitable for production whilst the rest was mainly pasture with a little arable. Modern developments have come and gone, a branch railway line linking Pentraeth with the main line has closed and been largely dismantled. Two rivers drain the parish, the Afon Ceint to the north headed westwards to the Irish Sea whilst the Afon Braint heads to the Menai Strait. The knoll on which most farmsteads sit rises to 106 metres by the church, the highest ground in the area, much of the parish, however, lies below 70 metres and some at 30. Covering 3,000 acres Penmynydd parish was not atypical for this area, that acreage would have supported a population scattered across its acreage of close to 600 parishioners. Like most of Wales Penmynydd is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

As already mentioned St Gredifael's church stands between a quarter and a half mile northeast of the notional centre of the community. Whilst there was an early church of the 12th century on this site it leaves behind only fragments of Romanesque carvings in the chancel wall. Penmynydd was the ancient home of the Tudor family, of English throne fame, and it was they who funded the complete rebuilding of the church in the 14th century. Thus the styling throughout the church is a mixture of  both Decorated and Perpendicular. After the initial build had completed the main body and its double bellcote, later work added the northern chapel and southern porch. Like most churches there was a Victorian restoration, that of 1848 being quite thorough yet sensitive to the style. Outside the entrance the road is widened to permit a car or two to safely park without causing blockage, the church is so well screened by surrounding trees as to be almost invisible from roads but once within there are enough viewpoints to satisfy the photographer.