While I was staying in north Wales in July I built in some free time for photography and knew ahead of my trip that it would probably include some churches. The Friends of Friendless Churches look after a number of redundant churches in Wales, so I head to their website in search of places to visit. I found three churches, all within a few miles of each other on Anglesey so that was where I headed, feeling uncertain whether I’d manage to visit all of them in a day.
My first church of the day was St Peulan’s, which stands beside a narrow country road in Llanbeulan. It soon became clear there was nowhere to park by the church, so I found a safe spot half a mile down the road, donned my walking boots, and walked back. The first view of the church comes across the hedgerows and fields - a small island in a sea of green. The path down to St Peulan’s is a a narrow track, deeply rutted from farm machinery, so I was glad of some sturdy footwear.
Stepping inside the church I was immediately struck by the beautiful soft light, despite the harsh July sunshine outside. The scene below immediately captured my imagination, with its simple pews and the thoughtful flowers and framed photograph on the windowsill.
Looking around the church I found some beautiful small scenes to photograph, illuminated by the sunlight, including a stone font, which may have originally been -art of an ancient altar.
I was inevitably drawn to the small harmonium organ, but sadly it didn’t look like it was in a fit state to be played - something I’ve done in other churches. I sneaked up into the pulpit whose slightly raised view gave me a different view of the church, with a hymn book in the foreground.
I always find the small details of churches, particularly fascinating, and at St Peulan’s this includes a sneaky autograph left behind a Victorian glazier, scratched into one of the leaded light windows in the 19th century.
After an hour or so I’d had my fill of this small but perfectly formed church and headed on towards my second destination for the day, the photos from which I’ll share in a separate post.
Photos taken 18 July 2025
