If you visit Betws Y Coed, one of the places on the tourist trail is St Mary's Church. A fine Victorian Listed building, who's heritage highlights, become obvious once inside the church, the colours in stunning stained glass windows come to life.
To me the most interesting stained glass window in St Mary's church is the huge round rose window which dominates the West end of the church. It features glass depicting the symbols of the four Gospel writers: the Angel (St Matthew), the winged Lion (St Mark), the winged Ox (St Luke), and the Eagle (St John).
St Mary's Church, is in the village of Betws-y-Coed, It is an active Anglican parish church of the Church in Wales, in the deanery of Arllechwedd, the archdeaconry of Bangor and the diocese of Bangor.
St Mary's church replaced a medieval church dedicated to Saint Michael, located the other side of the railway tracks, in the picturesque village of Betws Y Coed, North Wales.
Church Info: "The Parish Church was built in 1873, and designed by Paley & Austin of Lancaster. It replaced the old St. Michael’s Church which was too small to cope with the influx of tourists to Betws-y-Coed in the 1870's.
Much of the stained glass was designed by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898). He also designed stained glass windows for churches in England, America, India, Germany and France and the mosaic decorations in the apse of the American Church in Rome." Text Source: (
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Description of the Stained glass windows in this church:
"The elaborate east window portrays the life of Jesus Christ: the two round windows represent The Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel announced, and the Virgin Mary accepted, that she was to be the Mother of Jesus. The inscriptions are taken from the litany, a pray which beseeches the loving mercy of God, recalling Christ’s saving works on our behalf.
Moving from top to bottom, left to right, the long windows show: 1 Jesus’ birth in a stable; 2 His presentation in the Temple; 3 The boy Jesus in the Temple; 4 His baptism by John; 5 Christ in ascended glory; 6 Jesus rising from death; 7 Jesus crucified; 8 Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane; 9 Jesus transfigured in glory; 10 Riding into Jerusalem; 11 Washing the disciples’ feet; 12 Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples.
Walking down the South Aisle there is another series of stained glass windows. These show;
1, Jesus knocking at the door of the human heart (Revelation 3.20).
2, Jesus, The Good Shepherd (John 10).
3, St. Edmund (King of East Anglia, martyred in 869AD).
4, St John the Evangelist, the beloved Disciple of Christ, who wrote the fourth Gospel.
5, Mary of Magdala meets the Risen Christ (John 20. 1-18).
6, A second personification of Hope, holding her anchor.
The final window, in the corner, shows Jesus as The Sower (Mark 4.1-20), and below it, a depiction of Saint Paul preaching to the Athenians at the altar of the unknown god (Acts 17.22-34)." Text Source: (
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"During the nineteenth century, Betws y Coed grew from being a stage point on the London to Holyhead Road to become a popular holiday resort. As a result, the old church of Saint Michael (near the station) became too small for the growing community. In 1873 this new church, initially known as Christ Church, but later with Saint Mary as patron, was built on an open site in the centre of the village. This was a field previously used for fairs, cockfighting, eisteddfodau, and open-air preaching: it was given by the Gwydir Estate.
The growing village of Betws y Coed was already a varied and progressive community, and this outlook is displayed in the church they built. The tower, however, was not completed until 1907 – this contains the church clock and a set of tubular bells which can be played from a keyboard in the vestry." Adapted from: (
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