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One of Wales’ finest Arts and Crafts churches set for restoration

04 Aug 2026 4 minute read

St Mark’s Brithdir. Image: Andy Marshall, Courtesy Friends Of Friendless Churches

Dale Spridgeon, Local Democracy Reporter

An “exceptionally significant” Grade I listed church said to represent some of the most “outstanding” Arts and Crafts movement work in Wales is to undergo repairs.

St Mark’s at Brithdir, near Dolgellau has a raft of striking features including a beaten copper-fronted font and pulpit.

The preservation group, the Friends of Friendless Churches (FoFC), describe it as an “Arts & Crafts jewel-box with Italianate-influence, situated on Cader Idris”.

However the church now needs work to protect it from water ingress and to save it for future generations.

The FoFC has applied through Faulkner Associates to Eryri National Park Authority for listed building consent for restoration work, including re-roofing, re-pointing and internal plastering and decorations.

The application was made by Rachel Morley (FoFC) through the agent Andrew Faulkner Associates Ltd.

The group’s website says the church was commissioned by Louisa Tooth, in memory of her second husband Charles, founder and Chaplain of St Mark’s English church in Florence.

Decorative Copper Features Can Be Seen At St Mark’s Brithdir. Image: Andy Marshall, Friends Of Friendless Churches

“Louisa appointed Henry Wilson as her architect, and this full-blooded Arts and Crafts church was built in 1895-98.”

The church is “particularly important for its boldness of its architecture” and for the “wonderfully naturalistic detail of fittings,” the application stated.

It added: “Upon entering the church, the visitor is transported from the rugged Welsh countryside to a warm Mediterranean clime. Burnt sienna walls give way to a ceiling of azure blue.”

Other features include a decorated lead-clad circular font, choir benches decorated with a kingfisher, squirrel, rabbits, mice, owl and tortoise and bench ends displaying a stylised “SM” said to be for St Mark.

An LBC (Listed Building Consent) supporting statement in the planning statement said: “The Church is a Grade I listed building and considered one of the pre-eminent churches of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

“The interior decoration and fittings are arguably the most complete and high quality Arts and Crafts work in Wales.

“These include, amongst other outstanding features, a richly decorated circular lead font based on a design by W. R. Lethaby, a decorated copper altar made by the ‘lost wax’ process that features a drawing of the Annunciation with the Virgin and dove to the left faced by a kneeling angel-child and, to the extreme right, two sombre figures of Charles Tooth and his guardian angel.

“The pulpit is of beaten copper with three faces each featuring a wreath encircling grapes. The ends of the stalls have animals carved by Arthur Grove.

“The nave doors are built from oak and teak in chevrons, the points of which have tiny sparkling crowns of mother-of-pearl.”

Carving Detail From St Mark’s Image: Andy Marshall Courtesy Friends Of Friendless Churches

Planning documents noted how the church had “suffered over the year” although stated that the church was still “in a fair structural condition but is suffering water damage in this very exposed location”.

It noted that in 2025, specialist conservation builders had observed “extensive slate defects” across both of the church’s roof slopes…

“The roof is in poor condition overall due to widespread nail failure,” the details noted.

“Water damage is particularly prevalent around the east end and south sides of the church where plaster and paint finishes are severely affected.”

It notes that the church is “undoubtedly of high significance and is an excellent example of a distinctive Arts and Crafts Building, one of relatively few buildings designed by Henry Wilson and his team”.

The plans added “the applicants seek to sensitively repair the building to improve its condition and help it remain open for years to come”.

The Arts and Crafts movement dominated during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century. It championed traditional craftsmanship over mass production and was a social and artistic revolt against the impact of the Industrial Revolution.

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