St Pedrog’s Church, Llanbedrog

button_lang_frenchLink to Welsh translationSt Pedrog’s Church, Llanbedrog

llanbedrog_church_east_windowThe history of Christian worship in this vicinity may stretch back to the 6th century, when the Cornish priest St Pedrog spread the Gospel in Wales. Llanbedrog means the llan (walled enclosure) of Pedrog.

A church here is named in records compiled in 1254, and much of today’s church building is medieval. Some stained glass from c.1500 features in the west gallery window. The church was extended in the 15th or 16th century and renovated in Victorian times, when the tower was added.

On the exterior wall below the east window you can see the arms of the Love Parry family of Madryn. The unusual forename “Love” was given to many generations of sons, starting with Love-God Parry, born in 1654. His father was Geoffrey Parry of Cefn Llanfair (north of Llanbedrog), a Puritan and a Parliamentarian army officer in the Civil War.

Love-God’s grandson Love Parry (1720-1778) married into the wealthy Anglesey family which owned the Madryn estate (near Llanbedrog), where he settled.

The church’s east window (pictured) is a memorial to Sir Love Jones-Parry of Madryn (1781-1853). He was briefly MP for Horsham, Sussex, and later Caernarvon Boroughs. As an army officer, he helped to defend Canadian territory in the 1812-1814 war between the UK and USA. He was a Lieutenant General when he died at Madryn.

His widow Elizabeth had a large art collection. Soon after his death, Plas Glyn-y-Weddw – close to the church – was built to house the collection. It’s now Wales’ oldest art gallery. Click here for our web page about it.

Sir Love’s son, Sir Thomas Love Jones-Parry, helped prepare for the Welsh colony in Patagonia (Argentina), where a city is named Puerto Madryn and a street named Love Parry can be found in Trelew.

The window on the north side of the nave is a memorial to the local dead of the First World War. It depicts a battlefield, with Jesus Christ and an archangel above. The names of the war dead are inscribed on the sill.

The rector of Llanbedrog, the Rev Henry Jones Manley, lost his only son in the war. Captain George Manley, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, died in November 1917 and is buried at Beersheba war cemetery. One of the church windows is a memorial to him.

Postcode: LL53 7TT    View Location Map

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