Pwt o Hanes
Os yw eglwys wreiddiol Nidan Sant, a sefydlwyd yn 616 O.C., allan o’r golwg mewn man tawel, i’r de o bentref Brynsiencyn ac o fewn tafliad carreg i Afon Menai, anodd yw peidio â sylwi ar eglwys ‘newydd’ Llanidan wrth ichi deithio i mewn i’r pentref ar hyd yr A4080.
Fe’i hadeiladwyd rhwng 1839 ac 1843 yn dilyn twf ym mhoblogaeth Brynsiencyn a dirywiad yn adeiladwaith yr eglwys wreiddiol tua hanner milltir i ffwrdd oddi wrthi. Fel ei rhagflaenydd, cysegrwyd yr eglwys hon hefyd i Nidan, sant Cymraeg o’r seithfed ganrif a oedd yn gyffeswr mynachlog Penmon yn nwyrain Môn.
Y bwriad gwreiddiol oedd adeiladu tŵr pigfain ond ni ddigwyddodd hyn. Yn hytrach, yn nhridegau’r ganrif ddiwethaf, ychwanegwyd y murfylchau nodedig ar ben y tŵr: nodwedd sy’n rhoi i’r eglwys ei chymeriad hynod.
Cymysg fu’r ymateb i gynllun ac adeiladwaith yr eglwys i ddechrau gan rai a ystyriai pensaernïaeth yr eglwys wreiddiol cryn dipyn yn well. Ond, ‘anghyffredin’ ai peidio, mae’n adeilad Gradd II rhestredig ac yn cynnwys sawl elfen ddiddorol, yn eu plith y bedyddfaen sy’n dyddio o’r drydedd ganrif ar ddeg o’r ‘hen’ eglwys, yn ogystal â dwy gloch a’r greirfa oddi yno y tybir ei fod yn cynnwys gweddillion Sant Nidan.
A Short History
If the original church dedicated to St Nidan and established in 616 A.D is well hidden to the south of Brynsiencyn in a quiet corner, a stone’s throw away from Afon Menai, the ‘new’ Llanidan church is hard to miss as you travel into the village along the A4080.
It was built between 1839 and 1843 as the population of Brynsiencyn grew and the structure of the original church, about a half a mile from the village, deteriorated. The present church, like its predecessor, is dedicated to St Nidan, a seventh century Welsh saint who was the confessor of the monastery at Penmon on the eastern tip of Ynys Môn.
The original intention was to build a spire on the west tower but a crenellated tower, that gives the church its distinctive character, was added almost a century later.
The church’s design and structure received a mixed reception in the first instance from those that deemed the original church’s design and architecture to be vastly superior. But, ‘unusual’ or not, it is a Grade II listed building containing a number of interesting features, amongst them the 13th century font moved from the original church as well as two bells and a reliquary that, according to tradition, is thought to hold the remains of St. Nidan.