Christ Church, Prestatyn

Link to French translation

This building is Prestatyn’s parish church, consecrated in May 1863. The photo of the church in its first few years is shown here courtesy of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – the National Library of Wales.

Photo of newly built Christ Church Prestatyn c1885The parish was established in 1860 from areas which were previously in the parishes of Meliden and Llanasa. Prestatyn’s rapid growth after the opening of the Chester & Holyhead Railway in the 1840s justified a separate parish for the town.

The church was designed by architect Thomas Henry Wyatt, who hailed from Ireland. He settled in Britain and designed numerous Welsh churches, including several in Monmouthshire for his patron, the Duke of Beaufort. He was also involved in the Victorian restoration of Llandaf Cathedral, Cardiff.

Christ Church was enlarged in 1905, when a south aisle was added. The chancel dates from 1926. For many decades there was equal demand for services in Welsh and in English, but the number of Welsh speakers in the area declined after the Second World War.

Click here for our mini-tour of selected graves in the churchyard. They include the mass grave of six children who drowned while bathing at the beach, and the grave of Arthur Rowland Jones, who was First Officer on the liner Lusitania when it was torpedoed off Ireland by a German submarine in 1917. He survived but died a cargo ship was torpedoed later in the war. One of his Lusitania colleagues, stewardess Mary Elizabeth Jones, also hailed from central North Wales but died when the liner sank. You can read her details on our pages about Llanfairfechan war memorial.

Inside and outside the church are several war memorials. Click here for our information about the local war dead.

Postcode: LL19 9AR    View Location Map

Offas Dyke Tour Label Navigation north to south buttonNavigation south to north button