The largest donation towards the new parish church (£936) came from Gertrude, the widow of William Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben (died 1852), owner of Llys Dulas. Gertrude, whose husband had become rich from copper mining on Anglesey at Parys Mountain, also rebuilt the main house of Llys Dulas in the mid-1850s; it was demolished in 1976 after becoming derelict. Her daughter and heiress Gwyn Gertrude Hughes laid the foundation stone on 14 September 1854, using a silver trowel and ebony mallet. A box placed underneath the stone contained a Bible, a prayer book, a document with details of the event and an example of every British coin minted in that year. Those present were addressed in Welsh by the clergyman James Williams and in English by the curate of the parish, Morris Williams (more commonly known by his bardic name Nicander). The church (designed by Henry Kennedy, the architect for the Diocese of Bangor) opened in 1856.