Scheduled MonumentsWalesSt. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin
Medieval · Chapel

St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin

Denbighshire, Wales
Cadw SAM DE240
Period
Medieval
Site type
Chapel
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
The designation
Reference
Cadw SAM DE240
Authority
Cadw
Designated
1996-04-10
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin is a medieval chapel standing in the Vale of Conwy in north Wales. The building occupies ground underlain by Ludlow Rocks, a Silurian bedrock of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone that has shaped the local landscape for over 400 million years. This solid geological foundation has provided the stable base necessary for the chapel's survival through centuries of Welsh weather and history.

The chapel is a modest structure typical of rural medieval Wales, serving the local community of Gwytherin in Conwy County Borough. Its construction reflects the religious life of the medieval Welsh, when small chapels formed the spiritual centres of dispersed upland settlements. The site's position within this ancient geological setting, where softer rocks have weathered to create fertile valleys, would have made it accessible to the farming communities it served.

The chapel is now protected and recorded by Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments service, under the reference DE240. This designation ensures the preservation of the building as a significant example of medieval religious architecture in Wales. Today it remains a tangible link to the medieval spiritual landscape of Gwytherin and the enduring faith of its people across the generations.

St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE240. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin?

St. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference DE240.

What period does St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin date from?

St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a chapel. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin?

St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is DE240.

What other scheduled monuments are near St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Nant y Foel long hut (6 km), Moel Rhiwlug Cist Cairn (6.2 km), Maen Sertan Boundary Stone (7 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin

St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.

The wider landscape

Around St. Gwenfrewi's Chapel, Gwytherin

Bryn Celli DduArchaeological site · ~23.5 miles