Heneglwys / Hêneglwys / Hen-Eglwys / Hên-Eglwys

Lewis' Dictionary edition of 1849 remarks that when this church was rebuilt in 1845, care was taken to preseve and replace the old baptismal font. Described and illustrated in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a tub-shaped font from the Norman period; the cylindrical basin is ornamented with a blind arcade of round arches in the middle, between a band of key pattern at the top and another of chevron/concentric lozenge pattern at the bottom; it is mounted on two square blocks as lower base or plinth. Described and illustrated by Peter Lord, in Diwylliant... (1998-2003): cylindrical tub-shaped baptismal font of the late 10th or early 11th century, and suggests that they may be the work of the same maker responsible for the fonts at Penmon No. 1 [recycled foot of cross?] and Llanbeulan; the ornamental themes appear related to the font at Llaniestyn also in this area, farther south, on the Lleyn Peninsula [Lord (ibid.) mentions "a very similar vocabulary of images"]. Unlike these two, however, the Heneglwys font is perfectly cylindrical; the sides are decorated with a band of "T-fret" around the upper side, and a band of diamond motifs around the lower side, whereas the main central area of the basin sides is taken by a very regular blind arcade of round arches. The font is now raised on a polygonal (octagonal?) plinth.Thurlby (2006) points out "the detailing of the arches of the arcade in which the sculptor creates a subtly curved roll moulding and a hollow between the extrados of the arch and the curved triangles in the spandrels. The juxtaposition of roll and hollow is very much in the repertoire of the Romanesque architect and its appearance on the font is most readily explained if we see the font and heads at Heneglwys as products of the same time and patron", which Thurlby links to Gruffudd ap Cynan, ruler of Gwynedd [b. 1054/1055 -- d. 1137] and therefore suggests a date for this font probably in the early part of the 12th century.