MONA MEDIÆVA.

No. IV.

LLANDDWYN. This church, the history of which has been treated of by Mr. Rowlands in his Antiquitates Parochiales, is well worthy of a visit from the antiquary. Independently of its singularly romantic and lonely situation, it is remarkable as being one of the few regular cross-churches of Wales; and it is to be noted, as far as its fragments shew, for the goodness of its workmanship. Nothing remains except the eastern end and part of the side walls of the choir, the other portions of the edifice lying as a mass of ruins on the soil, where the outlines of the place may be readily traced, or being built up into the walls of the pilot's cottages. The length of the nave was the same as that of the choir, being each twenty-five feet; the total external length of the church was seventy feet, and the width twenty-seven feet; the transepts were twelve feet long by twenty feet broad. The prevailing style appears to have been Late Perpendicular: the outer arches of the eastern and southern windows of the choir, with peculiarly bold mouldings, still remain; but no traces of doorways, shafts, capitals, or tombs are to be seen. From the occurrence of a circular staircase at the north western angle of the choir, it may be inferred that a tower sprang from the intersection of the arms of the cross, and this, though the building was always small, must have given it a certain degree of architectural importance. The foundation line of the church, which stands on a small declivity, slopes towards the east, and traces of some adjacent buildings may still be made out. This edifice was erected under the invocation of St. Dwynwen, who flourished in the fifth century, and whose festival is celebrated on the 25th of January. Its orientation is N.E. by E.

On the island of Llanddwyn, but nearer to the mainland than the church, are the remains of a small building called Merddyn Cil, to which, if its name be correctly applied, some interesting tradition might probably be attached. It seems to have been of very rude construction, forming perhaps a

ARCHEOL. CAMB. VOL. I.]

3 C

tower, oblong in form, and of dressed rubble work, without mortar. Its date is quite problematical.

The singular isolation of this spot, the wild sublimity of its cliffs, the difficulty of its approach, and the splendid prospect of the Caernarvonshire mountains from Carnedd Dafydd to Carn Madryn, which is thence obtained, will amply repay the trouble of pilgrims wandering thither across the sandy hillocks of Newborough, or along the shelly beach from Aber Menai.

NEWBOROUGH. This parish, which has been called Rhosfair, Rhoshir, and also bore the name of Llanbedr, as well as the still older appellation of Llananno, has received much elucidation in its history from Mr. Rowlands in his Antiquitates Parochiales, and also from Miss Angharad Llwyd in her History of the Island of Mona. It is frequently mentioned in the Record of Caernarvon, where its Extent, taken in the time of Edward III., is given at full length. Much interest of course attaches to it from the importance given to it by Edward I., and also from the very probable circumstance of its having been the abode of the princes of Wales before the country fell into the hands of the English. No remains are now perceptible of the palace which formerly existed here, though it is supposed to have been situated to the south of the church; but future excavations may perhaps bring to light foundations and coins, which will clear up this subject. Even of the municipal and commercial importance of the borough no outward traces remain; for, though larger than some of the adjoining villages, Newborough is now one of the most miserable spots in the isle of Anglesey. The only medieval building extant within the parish is the church, but it is one of the most interesting in the cwmmwd.

This edifice is very nearly one hundred feet long externally, and forty-three feet wide, but not of higher elevation than twenty-four feet to the point of the highest gable. It consists of a nave and choir forming a single aisle, with a screen at the junction; the former being subdivided by a modern partition extending across it eastward of the southern door. The style is principally Decorated, and the choir presents an example unequalled in Anglesey for pure and beautiful design, excellent material, and careful workmanship. The windows and doorway of the choir are deserving of close study and exact imitation on the part of the architect,

who will find even the external mouldings of the eastern window as sharp and perfect as when first formed by the chisel. At the western end of the church is a double bellgable, and on the southern side of the nave is a doorway under a small porch. In this part of the building the old roof may be seen, consisting of closely set and slight rafters, making a circular arch under the tie beams; the remainder of the nave is coved under the roof, and in the choir a newer roof of low pitch has apparently been substituted for the ancient one, to the no small destruction of architectural effect. In the northern wall of the nave are two singlelight trifoliated windows: one of which is placed unusually low, while two others occur on the southern side. Here stands the font within the new partition, a work probably of the twelfth century; the only relic of the ancient Welsh Church, of exceedingly rude workmanship; it has not been improved by successive coats of whitewash, nor by the clumsy chisels of later workmen, who seem to have defaced it as if in sport. The eastern window of the choir is of

to it, each of two lights; and two nearer the screen of a single light each; all exquisite specimens of the decorated style, and probably of the time of Edward I. Under each of the

two-light windows in the choir are arched recesses, that in the southern wall containing what appears to be a coffin lid, that in the northern being blocked up from sight by a pew. A piscina occurs in the southern wall close to the altar. On the northern wall is a crossed stone, and in the southern wall of the choir is the priest's door, low in elevation, and of beautiful detail. The actual condition of this church, (in 1846,) reflects no credit on the parishioners and the parochial authorities; it requires, and it deserves, a thorough restoration by a competent architect. It was erected originally, as it is said, under the invocation of St. Anno or Amo, a Welsh saint whose date is uncertain; but it afterwards bore the name of St. Peter. The festival day is the 29th of June. The orientation of the church is N.E. by E.

On the south eastern side of the road from Newborough to Llangaffo, and on the farm of Brondeg stands a stone forming the eastern post of what was once a gateway into a field. It bears an inscription, of which the following is a copy reduced from a rubbing.

This inscription has exercised the ingenuity of Welsh antiquaries from Rowlands downwards. The upper portion can

hardly be decyphered satisfactorily, but the lower is legible enough, and from the form of the letters it may be considered

V

FILL:
(UUR+
CINL
ERE

hung
hú

LAPI
SEN

as anterior to the ninth century. The stone is six feet high, composed of the chloritic schist of the country, and full of longitudinal slits arising from the cleavage or stratification, which tend to make the letters still less legible than they might otherwise be. It is much to be wished that the owner of the property would take proper steps for having this venerable relic of antiquity safely preserved.

LLANIDAN. This parish has more than ordinary claims on the attention of the Cambrian antiquary, not only on account of the abundance and celebrity of its Celtic remains (if remains they can be called, when most of them have disap