Brithdir St Marks

Near Dolgellau, Gwynedd

OS: SH 769 188

St Mark's church was built 1895-1898 to the designs of Henry Wilson. It is one of the few Art Nouveau churches in Wales and is consequently listed Grade I.

The church was paid for in memory of the Rev'd Charles Tooth, chaplain and founder of St Mark's English Church in Florence, and is particularly important for the boldness of its architecture and the wonderfully naturalistic detail of its fittings.

Inside the church, the visitor is transported from the rugged Welsh countryside to a warm Mediterranean clime, with red ochre walls and a ceiling of vivid blue sky. Let the eyes adjust and notice the decorated font at the west end, conceived by Wilson, modelled by Arthur Grove and made by the Central School of Art in London. At the east end the pulpit and altar are characterised by their intricate naturalistic Arts & Crafts detailing; both designed and (unusually) made by Wilson himself. The choir stalls are beautifully carved with a hare, tortoise, squirrels, rabbits, an owl, a mouse, a kingfisher and a dolphin.

The Friends have already spent some £30,000 on repairs but we are waiting for the damp at the east end to dry out before we can complete this phase of work. Although Henry Wilson primarily intended three colours within the interior, the present tones are not what he had in mind. We hope to return the walls to the correct hue once we have clear evidence as to what they were.

Outside the church, do notice the rugged rustication on the lower courses of stone at the east end. In fact research has shown that all the external stonework was intended to be left 'untooled' (rough); the architect's dream being that "the Church [should] appear is if it had sprung out of the soil." This was such an alien notion, it seems, to his builder, that he would not (or could not) undertake it!

Look also on the exterior for the massive splay at the east end, the intricate, Art Nouveau window leading (cames), the door hinges of organic form and the sweeping cat-slide roof over the porch, a characteristic Arts and Crafts device. The great canopy at the west end shelters a stone cross in relief.

If you would like to visit the church and need details of keyholders, directions etc, please telephone our office on: 020 7236 3934.

Friends of Friendless Churches is a company limited by guarantee
Company No: 1119137, registered in England.
Registered Office: St Ann's Vestry Hall, 2 Church Entry, London EC4V 5HB.
Registered Charity No: 1113097.