St Doged's, Llanddoged, Conwy

The double-naved late medieval church of St Doged is situated on a mound right at the centre of Llanddoged villag in the Conwy valley. The circular churchyard and its raised position indicate that this was a celtic, pre-Christian site, before a sixth-century martyrium was constructed to shelter the saint’s grave. A holy and healing well named after St Doged — Ffynnon Ddoged — is located just 50 metres north of the church.

Little is known about St Doged, but he is mentioned in several medieval Welsh texts, including Culhwch ac Olwen, an Arthurian tale included in the Mabinogion. Doged, or Doged Frenin, was said to be a king who was killed by a rival ruler, Cilydd. Cilydd’s wife had died in childbirth and on her deathbed she made him promise that he would only remarry when he saw a double-headed thorn growing by her grave. Seven years later, he saw the thorn, slayed Doged, and ‘appropriated’ Doged’s wife, daughter and land.

The church was mentioned in the Lincoln Taxation of 1291. After the dissolution of Maenan Abbey in 1538, Llanddoged’s rector, David Kyffin, bought some of the land and the Kyffin family became major landowners. You can see several 17th- and 18th-century memorials to them in the church, including marble wall monuments to Sir Thomas Kyffin (d. 1752) and his son, also Sir Thomas Kyffin (d. 1784).

In 1838 the rector, Rev. Thomas Davies, and his friend, the rector of nearby Eglwysbach, substantially remodelled the church at a cost of £490. Some of the late medieval fabric was retained, in the masonry and windows, and the medieval octagonal font has also been preserved. The roof was raised and the interior completely remodelled: pews were arranged in square boxes facing a double-decker pulpit (flanked by large painted canvases of Christ and the Royal Coat of Arms) on the north wall. Tiered seating was also provided, including seating for children. This was much more like a Nonconformist chapel than an Anglican church, and that was precisely the point — dissenting chapels were springing up all around, and Rev. Davies hoped that this layout would persuade his parishioners to stay in the established church. The early Victorian reordering of the interior has survived to this day and is a ‘fine North-Walian example of a pre-Oxford Movement church’.

Despite Rev. Davies’ efforts, a roving reporter attending a service at Llanddoged in 1894 was dismayed to see just 24 people in the congregation … and the schoolmaster’s dog.

St Doged’s church closed in 2017 and came into our care in 2025, in need of significant repairs. We need to fix the slate roof and rooflight over the pulpit, repair walls and ceiling, pews, pulpit and panelling, redecorate, and carry out specialist conservation of the painted canvases.