Denbighshire 22 - Derwen- it means Oak /it is ancient/this is not a road / one thousand years

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"Derwen is the welsh word for oak trees " I said . There must have been many oak trees here in the past . The driver in the car with no name was not really giving his attention to my utterings. He was negotiating the road . Well road was perhaps exaggerating. We may well have been driving Clint down a road according to the inbuilt BMW sat nav system but what we were on was clearly not really a road . Calling it a lane would be nearer the truth but still a long way from being the truth. In the end we thought path might be the best option . There was just enough room for the car with no name to pass along although the mirrors sticking out could cause problems here and there as they seemed too near the hedgerow. If I put my arms out of the windows I could touch the side . If the council had not been down and cut the lower branches of the hedgerow the road would not have been wide enough for anything to pass down. I wondered how delivery lorries managed . Even transit vans would struggle . If anything came the other way and met us one would have some reversing to do in order to find a pull in. We were relieved to arrive in the small village t the end of the road named Derwen .

So what was there in the village ? A few working farms as you would expect . Half a dozen ex- council houses and a handful of private houses built in the 1970's. A community village board and a small war memorial . In 2011 there were 426 inhabitants in the village. The village school had closed some years ago as the population declined in rural communities and families with children probably moved to nearby Corwen or Ruthin.

We were there to see Derwen Church. Why you might wonder? On the face of it we are going to see a simple village church which closed in 1998/1999. The congregation presumably like the children in the village declined and it became too expensive to maintain . As a Grade 1 listed building it was never going to be allowed to go to ruin and the land sold off for building so it became another church cared for by the Friends of the Friendless churches . Not financed by the state in England at least here Cadw the Welsh equivalent of English Heritage and the Church in Wales contribute to keep the church open for visitors and watertight . Such a shame that it is an empty shell with no weddings, christenings , burials nor any Easter and Christmas services still going on to keep it more alive .

The church stands in an impeccable graveyard which when we visited was being tended to by a gardener . He was cutting the grass around the slate gravestones . All still clearly incised in Welsh with the names of the dead . In the graveyard which is rounded in shape gave the idea that this ground was holding many secrets of an older church and graveyard and a much older history . The almost circular churchyard (which is not owned by The Friends) contains a cross which dates from the 15th century. The niches which are much eroded at the top retain sculptured figures inniches . In the east niche the coronation of the Virgin. The west niche holds the Crucifixion. The north the virgin and child and the south St. Michael who is weighing souls on Judgment Day. Should the cross be housed within a glass /perspex box like the Viking stones of Jelling to protect this unique cross or left to the elements to deteriorate further .? The setting of the graveyard and the stone cross is truly lovely with views of the distant hills .



We headed for the church door which appeared shut . This seemed at odds with the information on the Friends site which told us that the church is open daily. The church dedicated to St Mary dated mainly from the 15th century although a church is mentioned in the much earlier Norwich Taxation of 1254.

It is a typical Welsh single chamber church with no division between nave and chancel and no side chapels . As always the Victorians had had a hand in restoration in 1857. Upon closure the church was vested in the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2002 with a contract that they would be responsible for the upkeep for the next 1000 years . 1000 years how can you imagine that length of time ? We thought of 1066 and William the Bastard arriving on our shores killing Harold and becoming King of England . 1066 - a thousand years had not even arrived yet . It was extremely hard to imagine what Wales would look like in one thousand years . The Friends would ensure that the church remained open and would look after it repairing the roof if needed and making sure it was watertight .

With all these thoughts of such a long period of time we headed for the church door . I was imagining I would have to ask the garden "Ydy'r eglwys ar agor heddiw ?" Is the church open today but I did not need to as I grabbed old of the ancient iron door handle and the door pushed open . Grating a little over the stone flagstones .

The church fitted in the landscape as it built of a grey local gritstone and was roofed in welsh slate . Apart from the distinctive red sandstone of Cheshire which had been used to face the windows and door surrounds the church was a dull grey completely fitting for its setting. The exterior walls were originally whitewashed as was the fashion . The windows 15th century . A bell loft was built which housed two bells both dated 1668. On top a late 18th century weathervane . A massive buttress looked as if it were holding up the back wall of the church . The old door was dated to the mid 13th century and may well have come from an earlier building .

We walked into the empty building . There is a feeling of sadness when you walk into an unused building which to all intents and purposes is gathering dust . The walls were whitewashed and quite bare with the exception of a niche on the back wall with a vase inside full of artificial dusty old flowers . The space is dominated by the richly decorated wooden rood screen which separates the nave from chancel. Unusually this rood screen still has its rood loft . The rood loft before the Reformationwould have located the rood which comprised of a crucifix flanked by figures of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist. Sadly they have gone but the socket for the rood is still visible. The beams supporting the loft are richly carved as is the tracery of the panels both of the screen and the loft and would have been richly and probably garishly painted . The lower part which is missing here but still standing in many church would have carried images of saints or the Apostles. The structure is late 15th or early 16th century. Access to the loft would have been from stone stairs on the north side but there was no access provided today .

The roof was arch braced and again appears to be the same date of the 15th century. It was highly decorative for a small village church . The font as the back was apparently dated 1665 but I missed this as it must have been inscribed on the one side I never looked at . The old pews sadly had been removed during the Victorian restoration and were replaced with pews , a new pulpit and altar . An old dug out parish chest which once held the parish records was probably again 14th or 15th century.

Many of the windows had no coloured glass and let in the sunlight but two windows were stained and were stunning . One was designed by H.E. Wooldridge and made by James Powell & Sons in 1869 and depicted the Navity, the Resurrection and the Ascension. The next window manufactured in 1860 depicted two saints . It was thought that the female figure was possibly St Cecilia and the male was one of the Evangelists. It was odd in that it had a Welsh inscription.

On the opposite wall were a couple of wall monuments of 18th-20th century date. The one on the North Wall was dedicated to Catherine Williams who died in 1744 at the great age of 94. Different coloured marbles were used to create one urn and flowers but on one side either money ran out or there was some strange restoration as the urn is painted . The other memorial told of the virtues of a local lady married to a gentleman. She sound extremely virtuous.

We left a donation in the box which was placed just by the door, perused the small book inside where visitors had made comments and went back out in the porch with its medieval water stoop. We closed the door quietly on what is a little gem very little known about and well worth the trip down those dreadfully narrow lanes .

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