England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Gwytherin St Winifred

The Parish

The parish of Gwytherin lies in  western Denbighshire roughly 6 miles east of the small town of Llanrwst. Gwytherin sits on the B5384 road, a linking road that connects the A548 ( Llanrwst to Abergele) road with the A544 (Abergele to Llansannon) road, it makes a dramatic southern course to visit the village of Gwytherin which lies in a remote valley surrounded by high mountains. Gwytherin is a small upland settlement gathered around inn and church with most properties lying along the valley floor following the course of the Afon Elwi which rises in the upper portion of the parish. Early gazetteers estimate as much as 56% of the parish acreage as "waste", today it is better known as upland pasture only suitable for hardy sheep, intensive farming is confined to the valley floor and is a mixture of pastures and small arable fields. Today Gwytherin earns much of its income from tourism supporting the hiking and fishing activities. The Afon Elwi is but one of 3 rivers that drain the parish, it being that passing directly through Gwytherin, Afon Aled and Afon Alwen also drain parts of the parish; the three rivers combine as the Afon Elwi to the northeast of Llanfair Talhaiarn turning eastwards to St Asaph where they join Afon Clwyd for its final miles to the Irish Sea arriving west of Rhyl. Gwytherin is sited at 230 metres at its church but land rises dramatically all around to several heights exceeding 400 metres notably wind-farm topped Moel Maelogen at 424 metres and Llys Dymper at 465 metres both targets for the intrepid hiker. As one would expect for an upland parish a large acreage is needed to support its population, Gwytherin parish covered just under 3,600 acres and supported a population scattered across its many hamlets of around 400 parishioners. Like most of Wales Gwytherin is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

The parish church is now known as St Winifred it has been both St Peter and St Gwytherin in the past. The church is accessed by a footpath cutting between the fronting properties and directly opposite the Lion Inn. Sadly today's church is a Victorian replacement built in 1869 to replace an earlier version and therefore not the venue for these marriages. If the state of the earlier church as reported in early gazetteers as "a spacious and ancient structure, but in a very dilapidated condition", it is perhaps not surprising it was more convenient to build anew rather than support such a poor structure. The church retains the single chambered structure that its predecessor had and is largely built in the 13th century style of the Early English Gothic complete with lancet styled windows. The distinguishing feature that makes it stand-out is the tall turreted bellcote standing proud above the ridge-line. Opposite the inn and in front of the entrance path is a broad parking area allowing a safe off-road space. The churchyard has a couple of trees to the church's west and a third to the southeast but all other aspects are readily available for the photographer.