The church was originally dedicated solely to St. Eurgain (mid 6th century) who was a niece of St. Asaph. She is understood to have come from Cilcain and then to have founded the Christian settlement and parish here (Llaneurgain), which nowadays also includes the villages of Sychdyn and Northop Hall. A building was documented in 1254 and 1291, when it was on the site of the current North aisle. It was extended East in the 14th century with a crypt beneath the new sanctuary. An arch at the East end of the arcade and 2 corbels in the nave (all relocated) are also 14th century. The church was substantially enlarged in the 15th-16th centuries under the patronage of the Stanley family. A new nave and chancel were added to the South and a simple arcade installed. The 98 feet high tower is said to bear a date of 1571 on a gargoyle, although it was probably started earlier in the 16th century.
History of Northop Church
Church of Ss Eurgain & Peter
Connah's Quay Road
Northop
CH7 6BS
Registered Charity: 1176095
© 2025 Northop Church
In his will of 1658, he bequeathed considerable amounts of money for the benefit of the poor and destitute in Chester and in Northop parish, but most important was his creation of the Owen Jones Charity. The rent from 105 acres of land and buildings in Northop and Soughton (Sychdyn) was to support widows' families or orphaned children, to provide education for the young and to prepare them for trade through apprenticeships. The Owen Jones Charity exists today, still fulfilling his wish that the rent was to be used for charitable purposes "for ever".
Owen Jones died in 1659, his grave on the south lawn of Northop church today marked by a memorial slab installed in 1751. He was at least 69 years old, as his baptism is not in Northop parish records, which only started in 1590.
Owen Jones
In the late 16th century, a baby was found warmly wrapped in a blanket and tied to the bell rope in Northop church. The Vicar and Church Wardens, who were responsible for foundlings, paid from parish funds to have the baby adopted by a poor but respectable couple named Jones. Nothing is known about the early life and education of the child, named Owen Jones, but lter on he was apprenticed to a butcher in Chester, worked hard and prospered in the trade. He worked in a community of butchers in Watergate Street, Chester, and was a regular worshipper at several churches in the city, but did not have a shop and was probably a wholesaler or supplier of meat.
The Old Grammar School
Nestled behind Northop Church and the Cemetery is a hidden gem in the history of both Northop village and the surrounding area. Also known as the Old Free Grammar School, this Grade 2* listed building looks like many other ancient stone buildings but its extraordinary history tells a much more dramatic story. In the 1600s, this humble building represented the beginning of a widespread educational revolution that was born just the country entered one of the most tumultuous centuries in its history.
The Reverend George Smith was the Bishop of St Asaph’s Chancellor at that time and one of his honorary roles was as sinecure rector of Northop and it was here that he decided to found a free school. His will, dated January 31st 1606, made his intentions clear:
There is no documentary evidence as to exactly when the building was completed. This has proved to be a controversial issue between academics as an archaeological investigation of the Grammar School in 1975 firmly asserts that the building dates from the 1680s but the forensically researched paper by T.W. Pritchard (published by the Flintshire Historical Society in 1979) assumes that the school was built, as planned, in 1608 and cites documentary evidence that clearly prove that the school ‘was in existence in the year 1615’.
The schoolmaster lived above the school room, in lodgings on a mezzanine floor which was accessed by external steps and door.
The Grammar School also benefitted from another generous legacy in the will of Owen Jones in June 1659. His endowment enabled 7 boys of Northop Parish to be educated from the age of 8 to 13 with the sum of £4 per year before becoming apprentices.