Wrexham County Borough 54 - Wrexham /St Giles parish church/There must be an angel playing with my heart

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Apologies to Eurythmics - I just felt the title of their hit There must be an angel playing with my heart to be rather apt today . I just love that song and it seemed fitting today to sing it if only in my head.

. I had been to St Giles Parish church a few times in the past . The latest vist two weeks ago with the express plan of looking at the display of angels in the church . My photographs did it no justice. The camera on my phone was old and not up to any decent standard . So today before the football match with time on my hands I took to the driver to see them . The church is imposing in its setting in the town . and is described as one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture to be found in Wales . I don't doubt that for one minute . . It is impressive and the couple behind us were heard to say whatever the angels looked like the church itself was well worth a visit . Who was I to disagree?

There was a church here as early as the 11th century . The current building though dates mainly from the 15th and early 16th centuries . It towers over the town. Looming there with its stunning tower The stone darkened with age . . Brooding and imposing you can see it from a great distance . Once it was said that no building in the town was to overshadow it . That was until they built the police station . That though never lasted long. It was demolished earlier this year so St Giles is now back where it belongs . The tallest building in town . You can see it from many of the villages above the town . A landmark and a worthy one at that .

The tower is 135 feet tall and was completed in 1506. The church was dedicated to St Giles although it may well originally have been dedicated to St Silyn a Celtic saint .

The church is welcoming with a sign Everyone welcome from whatever faith you come or from no faith at all. . So whether you have a religion or not you are welcome here . I liked that sentiment very much . Sometimes you feel awkward walking into a church of a different religion to your own . But here the message was the first thing you see .

Walk with me and come on a guided tour of the building . First walk through the wooden doors and enter the medieval masterpiece which has been turned into a wonderland of angels. Look up at the nave roof and marvel at the workmanship. We did indeed look up and it is stunning . A camberbeam timber structure dating back to the 16th century . Corbels supported it - if you look closely you can see animals , a three legged man - the symbol of the Isle of Man , a green man and other armorials . Each one was different to its neighbour . . Clerestory windows let in the light . None of the heavy stained glass . Clear glass letting in the late Autumn sun . And then there were the angels lined up along the roof . These were the permanent ones , wooden angels carved and gilded Sixteen of them all playing musical instruments or singing . There was the red face of the Devil up there but we missed him . .

We are heading now up the north nave . On the wall are many monuments . The one that stands out for its beauty is the Roubiliac monument to Mary Myddleton who died in 1747. At the top of the North Nave stands the Welch Fusiliers Chapel When I visited two weeks ago the altar table was covered in a cloth made up of red poppies . That had gone today and was replaced with its normal frontal .

Lets just stand and look back . Columns hold up the roof and each one is covered with angels . All hand made . All different . Large angels with golden haloes and white flowing gowns . Paper plates cleverly cut. The cut piece moved to create wings . Each decorated differently . I wondered if the local schools had had a hand in producing these . Some were covered in sparkly glitter. Others had golden and silver shapes stuck on . Some were hand painted with different designs . Angels hung from the roof . They were draped from one side of the nave to the other. Some were made from paper, from serviettes . Others were made from golden and silver shiny fabrics . They were there to represent all who had died from Covid . Instead of Christmas Trees Wrexham had gone one different and produced angels - hundreds of them . Small coloured plastic balls were covered with shiny see through paper . The balls made up the head and the material the flowing robes of an angel . Knitted angels on a tree . There were apparentlyt 6000 handmade angels in and around the church . Suspended in nets they would remain in place until January . It felt a real change from Christmas Trees .

The chancel was with the lecturn and pulpit had their own displays of quite large white and gold angels . They looked stunning against the reredos , rails and the white marble flooring . Look up again and amidst the angels was the Doom Painting . Early 16th Century wall painting that was still quite vivid despite years of white limewash overpainting . The Day of Judgement loomed large with figures rising out of their coffins to present themselves to Jesus Christ who was flanked by the Virgin Mary and St John. A lesson to the congregation if ever there was one .

More handmade angels lined the chancel gates attributed to the local master gatemaker John Davies and presented by Elihu Yale of Yale university in the USA fame .

Our final stop is the chapel to the fusiliers . A massive window normally takes centre stage . The regiments flags line the walls. Memorials to the fallen beneath them . If there is one thing I dont like about this chapel is the American flag . A brand spankiing new shiny clinically clean Stars and Stripes . I know that the flag is special to Americans and as such they would have hated the old tatty flag that once hung in its place . It was special to us . It came from the battlefields of the second world war . It was dirty , it was used , it was given to us by American servicemen at the end of the second world war and hung with great pride . We loved it . We held it with great reverence but the Americans wanted it back . They wanted to take it and bury it with military honours and replace it with a new flag . I understand the sentiment but for us a new flag means nothing . I holds no special place and it looks out of place in the company of the battle scared flags . What caught our eyes and would catch yours if you could see it was the net that fell from the roof to the floor . The stained glass behind it let in some light . There were angels falling from ceiling to floor . Each one identical . Each with the same head and body and the same material a see through gauze flowing robe . Two red spotlights were aimed at the display . It looked stunning . Delicate and very beautiful . Worth coming to see for just that one display . The overall effect though was highly unusual and was pulling the crowds in . Everyone smiled at the angels . Everyone marvelled at the work that had gone in to adorn the already stunning church .

We left and it was time to go outside and head back to the football ground for the afternoons entertainment . But first let us walk round the front of the church . A dark oak door highly carved , a stone removed from the building in 1918 and presented to Yale University . The grave of Elihu Yale . A place of Pilgrimage for Americans who want to see the church that the tower of Yale university is based on .

You have to agree that today there was an angel playing with my heart .

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