St Mary
Llanfair Talhaiarn, Clwyd
St Mary's dates from the 12th century and is enclosed by an ancient walled churchyard with many ancient gravestones and two very old yew trees.
The database of Welsh Historic Monuments describes St Michael’s as being of Lan eccentric early Victorian gothic style. Certainly what stands out as you approach the village from any direction are the church’s unusual twin towers.
St Michael’s was built in the 1830s to replace an earlier medieval church on the same site. The architect was John Welch. His relatively simple design of nave with smaller chance was built of local rubble with tooled limestone dressings. A clock made by Joyce of Whitchurch was added in the 1850s with the bell cast in Blaenavon.
Among the memorials inside is one to Lt EHJ Wynne, the only son of the local gentry who was killed on the Somme in 1916. Above the west gallery you will see a large royal coat of arms, possibly linked to one of Queen Victoria’s jubilees.
Outside the well maintained grounds were reordered in the 1970s with only a small number of the original gravestones remaining. A graveyard extension remains open for burials.
