A record of St. Cybi's Church, Holyhead : $b and the sermon preached after its restoration, 1879Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn
Religion
A record of St. Cybi's Church, Holyhead : $b and the sermon preached after its restoration, 1879
Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn
Sermons, English -- 19th century; St. Cybi's Church (Holyhead, Wales) -- History
The successive owners of Penrhos were closely connected with the fortunes
of Holyhead. Sir John Stanley, afterwards first Lord Stanley of
Alderley, his brother, the accomplished Bishop of Norwich and their sons,
the Honorable W. O. Stanley, and Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of
Westminster, took the keenest interest in chronicling the facts and
legends connected with the venerable church, and in the preservation of
its fabric.
During the last months of Mrs. Stanley’s life it was her great interest
to plan a complete restoration of the church, to complete the clerestory
left unfinished in Tudor times, and to render the dilapidated building
once more a worthy sanctuary for the prayers and praises which had echoed
within its walls for over thirteen centuries. Mrs. Stanley’s plan
included the erection of a monument to the husband she had loved so well,
and whose life had been devoted to the welfare of Holyhead.
The restoration of the church was carried out after her death from the
plans of Sir Gilbert Scott, mainly at the expense of Mr. Stanley, in
1879. By the removal of the earth accumulated within the building, the
bases of the pillars long buried were brought to light, and the church
revealed once more in the beauty of its original proportions. And now
Mrs. Stanley’s last wish has been fully carried out, as regards her
husband’s monument, by its erection in a fitting shrine by one who,
having filled a daughter’s place in the home at Penrhos, has put her
whole heart into the perfecting of a work which she regarded as a sacred
trust bequeathed to her.
[Picture: Monument to The Honble. William Owen Stanley (d. 1884), erected
by desire of Ellin, his wife]
The south chancel aisle was completed and unveiled on Sunday, the 20th
June, 1897, the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Accession. The carved
figures on the outside representing St. Seiriol and St. Cybi, are from
the designs of Mr. Hamo Thornycroft; the steps, of green serpentine
marble, are taken from the Rhoscolyn Quarry, Holyhead Island, by the
kindness of Colonel Hampton Lewis of Bodior.
Mr. Arthur Baker, who carried out the restoration of 1877 under Sir
Gilbert Scott, has been the architect of the present addition; but to the
deep regret of all who knew him, he has passed away this year, and we owe
the perfecting and completion of the work to the devoted personal
superintendance of his partner, and son-in-law, Mr. Harold Hughes, of
Bangor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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