St Fflewin's Church, Llanfflewin

St Fflewin's Church, Llanfflewin
A view from the south-east
St Fflewin's Church, Llanfflewin Location in Anglesey
Coordinates: 53°22′21″N 4°28′56″W / 53.372389°N 4.482285°W / 53.372389; -4.482285
OS grid reference	SH 349 890
Location	Llanfflewin, Anglesey
Country	Wales, United Kingdom
Denomination	Church in Wales
History
Founded	630 (reputedly) Earliest dateable feature of present building is 18th-century
Founder(s)	St Fflewin (reputedly)
Dedication	St Fflewin
Architecture
Status	Church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	12 May 1970
Specifications
Length	47 ft 6 in (14.5 m)
Width	14 ft 9 in (4.5 m)
Materials	Rubble masonry
Administration
Parish	Llanfechell with Bodewryd with Rhosbeirio with Llanfflewin and Llanbadrig
Deanery	Twrcelyn
Archdeaconry	Bangor
Diocese	Diocese of Bangor
Province	Province of Wales
Clergy
Rector	Reverend Canon G W Edwards

St Fflewin's Church, Llanfflewin (sometimes referred to as St Fflewyn's Church, Llanfflewyn) is a small rural church, situated by a farm in Anglesey, north Wales. The first church on the site is said to have been built by St Fflewin in 630, but the present building has no structural features dating from before the 18th century, although the church has a font from the 14th or 15th century and part of an inscribed medieval gravestone has been reused in a window sill.

The church is still used for worship by the Church in Wales, and is one of five churches in a combined benefice. It is a Grade II listed building, a national designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them", because it is a "simple rural church built on Medieval foundations". A 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey said that it is a "typical, well-preserved rural church and is well worth a visit."

St Fflewin, to whom the church is dedicated, was a Christian who was active in the 6th century. He is described as the son of Ithel Hael, who came to Britain from Armorica (present-day northern France) towards the end of the 5th century. He established a Christian site at the location of the present church in 630 (according to the Diocese of Bangor and a 2006 guide to the churches of Anglesey), although a 19th-century guide to Wales by the writer Samuel Lewis says that it was sometime early in the 7th century. No part of a building from that period survives. There was a church here by 1254, since it is recorded in the Norwich Taxation of that year. The present building is thought by Cadw (the Welsh Assembly Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales) to be "probably built upon Medieval foundations", albeit that the earliest dateable feature of the structure is from the late 18th century. After some repairs in the early part of the 19th century, St Fflewin's was partially rebuilt ("judiciously", says a 2009 guide to the buildings of north-west Wales) in 1864 and further restored during the 1930s. The Welsh poet and clergyman Morris Williams (better known by his bardic name "Nicander") was rector here from 1859 until his death in 1874; he was buried at Llanrhuddlad, one of the other Anglesey churches for which he had responsibility.