St Twrog's, Bodwrog, Anglesey

St Twrog, a scribe of St Beuno, was one of a large cohort of saints and monk-missionaries who came to Anglesey and north Wales in the 5th and 6th centuries. Seven of his siblings were saints as well, and several of them founded churches in the Diocese of Bangor.

The present small single-cell church at Bodwrog (the dwelling of Twrog) was built of rubble during the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509). In 1500, Richard Bulkeley was Archdeacon of Anglesey and is thought to have contributed to the cost of building. A carved bull’s head, a symbol of the Bulkeleys of Beaumaris, can be seen above the south door, with more bulls’ heads in spandrels to the right of the north door (long ago converted into a window). The south door also features the arms of Llywarch ap bran, 12th-century Lord of Menai and the founder of one of the ’15 (Noble) Tribes of Gwynedd’.

Nearby Bodychen Mansion, now a ruin, was once the home of Rhys ap Llwelyn, who led a group of Anglesey men into battle at Bosworth Field in 1485 in support of Henry Tudor. The newly crowned Henry VII rewarded Rhys by appointing him Sherriff of Anglesey for life. The seat of the Tudors of Penmynydd was just eight miles from Bodwrog. Rhys was also a patron of poets, including Lewys Môn, and this tradition at Bodychen continued until the early 1600s.

In 1648 the church was gifted to Jesus College, Oxford, and the college continued to collect tithes from Bodwrog for more than 200 years. However, by the early 1800s the church was described as being ‘at a considerable distance from any human habitation’. This probably explains why for many years it was attached to St Trygarn’s, Llandrygarn, where Jesus College built a parsonage for the clergyman who served both churches.

St Twrog’s has remained very much as it was when it was constructed in the late 15th century. As well as the original south and north doors it retains three original windows in the chancel, including a ‘surprisingly grand’ three-light Perpendicular-style East window with tracery. Two more windows were added to the chancel in the 17th/18th centuries, and in the 19th century the church was refitted with timber dado panelling, pulpit and reading desk, box pews, a simple communion rail and a new roof. The bellcote at the west end contains a single bell inscribed 1688.

We adopted St Twrog’s in 2024 and the church is currently undergoing repairs. Damp from defective drains and very high external ground level on the south side has rotten out much of the timberwork. We need to reduce the moisture levels in the building, through better drainage, lowering the ground level if archaeology permits, and increasing ventilation to the interior.
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