Christchurch, Rhydycroesau

Rector: The Reverend Prebendary David B Crowhurst

Churchwardens: Mrs B.Richards, 4, Wood View, Racecourse
Mr P. Hill, Tyn-y-Groes, Rhiwlas
Hon. Secretary: Mrs Elizabeth Stanley, Holly Cottage, Llawnt
Hon. Treasurer: Mr G. Shaw, Pentre-Gaer-Uchaf, Rhydycroesau

Services are held at 9.30am each Sunday:

1st Sunday - Family Service led by members of the congregation
2nd Sunday - Holy Communion – Book of Common Prayer
3rd & 4th Sunday - Holy Communion – Common Worship
5th Sunday - Matins

Special services are Harvest Thanksgiving held at 7pm on the Second Friday of October each year, and the Candlelit Carol Service on Christmas Eve at 7pm.

The Church was consecrated in 1838, built on land given by Sir Watkins Williams Wynn – and reconstructed in 1886. The first parson, Rev Robert Williams, ran a school in the rectory. The 1851 census shows he had 9 pupils, one from Bombay and one from Le Havre. He was a Celtic scholar of some renown and was made a Canon of St. Asaph in recognition of his literary works. He resigned the living in 1879, after 41 years.

The second rector was the Rev. R.R. Jones, who raised the funds for the rebuilding of the Church in 1886. The clock was placed in the tower in memory of Rev. Jones in 1908. This clock has recently (2003) been electrified in memory of Canon Maurice Ridgway who spend his retirement years in Rhydycroesau and officiated at many services. He was very worried that someone had to climb the tower each week to wind the clock, and his family decided that electrification of the clock would be a suitable memorial to him.

The last resident rector of the parish was Rev. W A Morris, who held the living from 1908 to his death 1948. Until 1920 services were held in English and Welsh.

From 1948 the parish was combined with Selattyn, until 1990 when the Vicar of Oswestry, Rev. D B Crowhurst became rector.

There are four memorials in the church. One in the chancel in memory of Rev. W A Morris, the second, originally a reredos, in memory of Capt John Stubbs, RN, lost at sea in 1917; the third memorial relates to Charles Edwards 1628 – c1691, author of Y Ffydd Ddiffuant, regarded as one of the classics of Welsh prose. He was born in the farm next to the church. The war memorial is a two-manual pipe organ and there is a list of men lost in the first Word War, and those who served, near the organ. Also in the church is a plaque recording the fact that to celebrate the millennium the village raised a sum of money, matched by the Government, in total enough to provide 7 wells in Senegal.

In the mid 1990’s 60 new kneelers were made by members of the church and friends; these depict local flora and fauna and are much admired.