1 day Ago By [email protected] (Andrew Forgrave)
It is regarded as one of the most historic churches in Wales, older than the world-famous castle nearby. Llywelyn the Great (Llywelyn Fawr) was buried there and the church was damaged during the country’s 13th century conquest by Edward I. But in recent years St Mary’s & All Saints in Conwy town has been showing its age.
Water ingress is affecting the building and many of its stairs are worn out. The church is in such poor condition that weeds are growing inside. The oldest part of the church is the West Tower, dating from the 12th century, and has been declared unsafe.
It needs urgent repairs to make it watertight again so that congregations can continue using the building. A helping hand has now been offered for the Grade I-listed church. St Mary’s is to collect £50,000 from the National Churches Trust (NCT) as part of a wider £584,081 pay-out for churches in need of urgent funding.
On the recommendation of the NCT, the church will also receive a £10,000 fabric repair grant from the Wolfson Foundation charity. The donations have been made at a time when churches are reeling from VAT changes made by the UK Government. They’ve warned that newly introduced caps on VAT claims could make repairs to places of worship unviable.
Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now The two grants will help fix St Mary’s West Tower, ensuring it remains safe to use the church's main entrance. This includes repairing a major crack in its stonework and restoring – or replacing – its stone steps. Chris Roberts, area warden of the Bro Celynnin Ministry Area, said the restoration work is “much needed”.
He added: “The state of the tower has been an increasing worry for us over the past few years and these grants will go a long way towards making the tower both safe and attractive to look at. For over 800 years St Mary’s has stood both literally and spiritually at the very heart of Conwy. These grants will help enormously to secure our building’s future and ensure that we are able to continue with the work in the community to which we are committed.
” St Mary’s sits within a UNESCO World Heritage Site which includes nearby Conwy Castle. A team of 40 volunteers is on hand to give guided tours around the church from Easter to October, five days a week. It hosts an annual classical music festival, stages plays and, in December, holds a week-long Christmas Tree festival.
The church serves its local community too. Last month St Mary’s Church Hall reopened after extensive renovations which transformed the space into a multi-purpose hub for arts, culture, and community activities. From here, 30 volunteers distribute food parcels to almost 100 families and vulnerable people via the church’s local food bank scheme, “Bags of Love”.
Rev Dr Kevin Ellis, Vicar of the Bro Celynnin Ministry Area, said: “St Mary’s Church was a place of worship that also offered space for quiet reflection or an escape from cares of the world. The tower has kept watch over the town longer than the castle. The National Churches Trust grant will help us ensure that it continues to do so.
” Originally built as a Cistercian monastery in 1186, Aberconwy Abbey became central to Welsh learning and national identity because of its connections with the Princes of Gwynedd . The greatest of them, Llewelyn Fawr, was buried here. Following King Edward I’s campaign of conquest, he evicted the monks in 1283 and moved the abbey to Maenan.
Llywelyn’s stone coffin was relocated to St Grwst’s Church in Llanrwst . St Mary’s was built as Edward’s garrison church by incorporating parts of the abbey. Later additions were made from the 14th to 20th centuries: extensive restorations were carried out in 1872 by leading Gothic Revival architect Sir Gilbert Scott, who designed or altered more than 800 buildings during his career.
As well as a beautiful rood screen dating back to the 1500s, the church has a Tudor font and its tower houses a rare example of a turret clock that some people find annoying . The NCT worries that modern repairs to churches like St Mary’s are set to become more costly. The UK government recently said it would renew its Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme only until March 2026 – this allows listed churches, chapels and cathedrals to reclaim VAT on urgent repair projects.
Since the scheme was introduced in 2001, it has helped 13,000 places of worship. Government ministers have also introduced a new VAT cap, meaning churches can only claim back a maximum of £25,000 on their repair bills. The NCT said this is having a “devastating” impact on churches across Britain.
Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox Chief executive Claire Walker said the changes had effectively “imposed VAT on listed churches” in need of major repair. She added: “This will be unaffordable to many of them and could lead to even more churches falling into disrepair or closing completely. In Wales, 25% of historic churches and chapels have closed in the last decade.
“But this is about more than just heritage – churches host and run support for local people which would be impossible for local authorities to fund and run if they were forced to close. We should be making it easier for churches to help local people – not cut off vital funding.” Find out what's happening near you.
