St Hilary's Chapel - Bell Tower - Denbigh, Clwyd, Wales.
N 53° 10.905 W 003° 25.196
30U E 471936 N 5892571
St Hilary's Chapel was built as a 'Chapel of Ease' around 1300 AD. The Church was abandoned in 1875 & partially demolished in 1923. Today only the bell tower & end wall survives. Located just outside Denbigh Castle, Vale of Clwyd, North Wales.
Waymark Code: WMWAX7
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/05/2017
Views: 0
St Hilary's Chapel, Bell Tower - Situated on green manicured lawns, just below & north of Denbigh Castle.
In 1874 St Mary's church was erected lower down the hill. I was told that most people refused to make the steep climb up to the old church of St Hilary's leading to its decline & eventual abandonment.
After 1874 the church went into decay & ruin. In 1904 the roof was removed, leading to more damage from the elements, eventually in 1923 the church was largely demolished, leaving just the 50 feet tall tower & West wall still standing.
The 'Tower of St Hilary's Church' Denbigh is now Grade 1 listed building. Owned by the Welsh Government, & Protected & preserved by Cadw. See Cadw Website: (
visit link)
History of St Hillary's Church:
"The tower and a short section of wall is all that remains of a medieval chapel of ease dedicated to St Hilary, built into the late 13th century town walls of Denbigh. The chapel was created sometime around 1300 as a depency of Whitchurch just over a mile to the east.
The chapel would have been replaced by the magnificent 16th century church planned by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, but Leicester's plans came to naught. In 1874 the construction of a new church dedicated to St Mary meant that St Hilary's fell out of use and eventually became so decayed that all except the tower was demolished in 1923.
The original chapel had 5 bays in the nave, plus a chancel, north aisle, and a west tower. The surviving tower stands 15 metres high, and has a 15th century battlemented parapet with gargoyles projecting from it." Text Sources & More Info: (
visit link) & (
visit link) & (
visit link)
Hours:
The tower can be viewed Daily, Dawn to Dusk, free of charge.
There is NO public access to the inside of the tower.