St Beuno's Church, Trefdraeth

St Beuno's Church, Trefdraeth
View from the south, showing the transept and porch
St Beuno's Church, Trefdraeth Location in Anglesey
Coordinates: 53°12′25″N 4°23′06″W / 53.207°N 4.385°W / 53.207; -4.385
OS grid reference	SH408704
Location	Trefdraeth, Anglesey
Country	Wales, UK
Denomination	Church in Wales
History
Founded	First church reputedly established c. 616; earliest parts of present building 13th century
Dedication	St Beuno
Architecture
Status	Church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	30 January 1968
Style	Decorated
Specifications
Length	59 feet (18 m)
Width	15 feet (4.6 m)
Materials	Rubble masonry and squared stones; slate roof
Administration
Parish	Trefdraeth with Aberffraw with Llangadwaladr with Cerrigceinwen
Deanery	Malltraeth
Archdeaconry	Bangor
Diocese	Diocese of Bangor
Province	Province of Wales
Clergy
Rector	Vacant

St Beuno's Church, Trefdraeth is the medieval parish church of Trefdraeth, a hamlet in Anglesey, north Wales. Although one 19th-century historian recorded that the first church on this location was reportedly established in about 616, no part of any 7th-century structure survives; the oldest parts of the present building date are from the 13th century. Alterations were made in subsequent centuries, but few of them during the 19th century, a time when many other churches in Anglesey were rebuilt or were restored.

St Beuno's is part of the Church in Wales, and its parish is one in a group of four. The church remains in use but as of 2013 there is no parish priest. It is a Grade II* listed building, a national designation for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because it is regarded as "an important example of a late Medieval rural church" with an unaltered simple design.

St Beuno's Church is in Trefdraeth, a hamlet in the south-west of Anglesey by Malltraeth Marsh, about 5 miles (8 km) south-west of the county town of Llangefni. It stands in a roughly circular llan (Welsh for an enclosed piece of land, particularly around a church) north of the road between Trefdraeth and Bethel.Beuno, a 7th-century Welsh saint, has several churches in north Wales dedicated to him.

According to Angharad Llwyd (a 19th-century historian of Anglesey), the first church on this site was reportedly established in about 616. No part of any 7th century building survives, and restoration over the years has removed much historical evidence for the church's development.

The earliest parts of the present structure are the nave and the chancel, which are 13th-century. The church shows signs of alterations and additions in subsequent centuries. A transept or chapel was added to the south side of the chancel in the late 13th or early 14th century. The arch between them was once the archway between the chancel and the nave but was later moved. The bellcote at the west end of the roof was added in the 14th century. The porch on the south side of the nave was built in about 1500, and was re-roofed in 1725. A doorway in the north wall of the nave was inserted in the late 15th or early 16th century, and now leads into a vestry added in the 19th century. The main roof is largely 17th-century. Some repairs were carried out in the 1840s, with further repairs in 1854 under the supervision of the diocesan architect, Henry Kennedy.