St Deiniol, Llanddeiniolen

About the church

Although the present church is Victorian, the site has been a place of Christian worship since the 6th century ‘Age of the Saints’. Some of the huge yew trees in the churchyard are estimated to be 2,000 years old, suggesting that this was a sacred place before the Christian era. There are wonderful views of Yr Wyddfa, the Iron Age hill-fort of Dinas Dinorwig, and across to Holyhead Mountain on Anglesey. The churchyard contains a parish war memorial as well as a number of war graves.

Visiting the church

The church is usually open for visiting 24/7 but is currently closed for building works until November 2026.

We meet for worship at 3pm on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Services are bilingual and alternate between Communion or a service of hymns, prayers and reflection, which may be based on a particular theme. Refreshments are always served after services!

A bit of history

Although the church is dedicated to ‘Deiniol’, the form ‘Deiniolen’ suggests ‘son of’ the St Deiniol who founded Bangor Cathedral and served as the first Bishop of Bangor. The place of worship would have been rebuilt many times over the years, mostly recently in 1843 and the east window, by artist Charles Clutterbuck, was commissioned for the new church. The stone font (dated 1665) came from the previous building, as well as several memorial plaques. The two stone ‘bowls’ outside the door are ancient holy water stoups, once used by worshippers to cross themselves when entering the church.