A Short History of the Parish of Cefn
The two townships of Wigfair and Meiriadog, forming part of the parish of St Asaph, were gazetted as a new parish by an Order in Council on the 7th February 1865, and the living was by an Order in Council on 29th June 1866 constituted into a rectory. The parish church of St Mary was consecrated by Bishop Short on September 3rd 1864. The church is built in the Early English style of the early 13th century from designs of Mr B Ferrey F.S.A. Its plan is cruciform and consists of an apse, nave and two transepts, with a porch on the south wall. The north transept is screened off as a vestry and the south as the organ chamber.
The material, even the marble steps and columns of the chancel with their foliated capitals, is of native limestone, quarried and worked on the spot, save only the groined roof of the chancel, which is of Bath, and the pulpit of Ruabon stone.
The reredos of Florentine marble is in three panels, representing the Virgin Mary with her dead Son surrounded by a cross. This is a copy of the original, which is to be found at “Albergo dei Poveri”, the “Inn of the Poor” in Genoa. It is a memorial donated by the mother of Edward Watkin Williams-Wynn, Lieut. Scots Guards, who was drowned in the River Thames at Windsor in 1880.
The font, of white Carrara marble, representing a kneeling angel bearing a scallop shell, emblematic of Christian Pilgrimage, is a copy of that in Copenhagen cathedral by Thorwaldsen, and was executed by his pupil Stein. It was a gift of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 6th Bart. M.P. There is also a copy in Barmouth.
St. Mary’s Church has fine examples of stained glass by Lavers and Barraud. The five lancet windows in the sanctuary represent the Infancy, the Mocking, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and Commission by the Lord Jesus. These are dedicated to the memory of Col. Herbert Watkin Williams-Wynn.
The stained glass in the west lancets represents Our Lord as “The Light of the World” and “Blessing the Children”. These are surmounted by a rose window which has the face of Our Lord with Cherubim at its centre. Four lights depict angels, and four smaller lights have the emblems of the four evangelists, the man, the lion, the ox and the eagle.
The window on the south side of the nave by Lavers Barraud and Westlake dates from 1878 and has two lights, on the left depicting Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, and on the right, Mary at the tomb of the Risen Lord.
Amongst other notable features within the church are five brass candle standards given by the Dowager Duchess of Northumberland. It appears likely that there were originally six.
In the sanctuary, there is a chair dating from 1637, and a late-medieval two-seat sedilia with figurative elbow knops, but minus their misericords. The sedilla is said to have been originally in Ruthin.
The two-manual, twelve stop organ, was built in Huddersfield by Peter Conacher and Co. A brass tablet reads: “To the glory of God a thanks offering for the safe return of his brother from active services in South Africa, and his own recovery after a severe illness, this organ was dedicated by Herbert Watkin Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet, Easter Day 1902”.
St Mary’s Church, Cefn, may be regarded as, in great measure, a memorial to Col. Herbert Watkin Williams-Wynn, who got the task under way, but was killed in an accident on June 21st 1862.
The foundation stone was laid in March 1863 by his eldest son, and Sir Watkin was desirous to give the church a memorial character. He undertook all costs, with a further outlay of £1,500, the total cost being nearer £3,000.
The Church Aided School in Cefn, built in 1858 was used for Divine service for the three months preceding consecration of the church. The school building is now the Cefn Estate Office.
Two eminent historians have served as rectors of Cefn. The first rector, David Richard Thomas wrote “History of the Diocese of St Asaph” and edited “Y Cwtta Cyfarydd”, an account of life in the seventeenth century in Cefn and the surrounding area. In 1907, John Fisher, rector of Cefn from 1901 to 1930, with Sabine Baring-Gould, wrote the four volumes “Lives of the British Saints”. The Secretary of the Cambrian Archaeological Association, Fisher also contributed learned articles to the Association’s journal “Archaeologia Cambrensis”.
In 1998, the Church of St Mary was recorded as a Grade II Listed Building.