All Saints
Sinan, Denbighshire
A simple, spiritual building with a very special, peaceful atmosphere, where you can sit, reflect and pray as you take in the glorious views along the North Wales coast and the Clwydian range.
The church was commissioned by Margaret, daughter of Sir John Williams of Bodelwyddan Castle. She had married a Warwickshire baron but returned to her home area after his death in 1852. The Bishop of St Asaph, Dr Vowler Short, agreed to her request that Bodelwyddan be made a separate parish and given its own parish church. The church is dedicated to two saints: St Margaret of Antioch and St Kentigern.
The church was designed by John Gibson. He had studied with Sir Charles Barry, who rebuilt the Houses of Parliament after a fire in 1834 and whose architectural style was highly decorative. This influence is to be seen in the ornate Gothic carvings which decorate the Marble Church’s exterior. The interior features several kinds of marble, from Ireland, England, France and Italy. The Victorian stained glass windows are also notable.
The church was built with a type of limestone from nearby Llanddulas whose appearance resembles porcelain. Two nooks by the western entrance were made from Aberdeen granite, because St Kentigern hailed from Scotland. Expert stonemasons were recruited from around North Wales, especially Anglesey.
The churchyard contains the grave of Elizabeth Jones, mother of the renowned Victorian explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley, and the war graves of more than 80 Canadian people who died at a nearby army camp in 1918 and 1919. There is also a group of British war graves from the same war, and from the Second World War and Falklands conflict.