St James Church, Holywell
A beautiful and ancient church said to be founded by St Beuno in the 7th century and dedicated originally to his niece, St Winefride, after which a stone church was built in the 14th century, and extensive rebuilding was done in 1769.
Some of that 14th century church survives, notably the church tower and the pillars supporting the galleries. Most of the church we see today dates from 1769-70. The church stands in a hollow below the town of Holywell, which grew and prospered in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This made it difficult for townspeople to hear the church bell ringing and by 1714 a bellman would walk the streets with a portable bell to inform them when it was time to go to church.
Also inside the church is a bassoon dating from 1765, when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child.
Several stained glass windows in the church relate to war and peace.
Inside the church is a memorial to Paul Panton, who died in 1797, and came from a family of local importance. The memorial was created by the great sculptor John Flaxman (1755-1826). He had a physical deformity and missed out on schooling, spending his formative years in the shop where his father moulded and sold plaster casts. He later created designs for Wedgewood pottery and designed monuments which are in Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral.
A mutilated stone effigy in the church is thought to depict a 16th century vicar of the parish, holding an Elizabethan communion cup. Some people thought it was an effigy of St Winefride and chipped away many areas of the effigy. This apparently continued even after a drawing was made in 1892 showing parts of the right arm which are now missing.
The church is now a centre of wellbeing and many of the internal features have been removed, so it is very important to retain details of these.
The centre is already providing professional and spiritual help to the community. St James's, along with St Peter's and Holy Trinity are now all part ofthe Estuary and Mountain Mission. (http://www.estuaryandmountain.org/about-us.html)
