The church was rebuilt by the Cistercian monks of Aberconwy Abbey in 1282 and remained largely unchanged until extensive rebuilding in 1820 and 1865, paid for by the Mostyn family and local landowners.

Local legend recounted by Thomas Pennant in his 1784 work A Tour in Wales, has it that Maelgwyn died at the church, having taken refuge there to avoid the yellow pestilence.

The plague is colourfully said to have taken the form of a fair women with the powers of a basilisk, who slew Maelgwyn with a glance as he incautiously looked out of a window.

St Mary's well (Welsh: Ffynnon Santes Fair) is west of the church; once lost it was rediscovered after local flooding in June 1993, being excavated and restored the following year.

Cadwallon Lawhir's 5th century AD residence ruins are extant atop a woodland knoll above the present Bodysgallen Hall (Williams, 1835).

The square tower (non-defensive) has a five-storey, ascending anti-clock wise, extant spiral staircase, which yields commanding views to the north (Lumina Technologies, 2006).

These buildings flanked the church to the north and south, a proximity which was to be their undoing when the pious Lady Augusta Mostyn ordered their demolition in the latter years of the 19th century.

The adjacency of the public houses to her estate was another factor which hastened their demise, as Lady Mostyn felt the nearness of such temptations was hampering the productivity of her workers.

[20] It is notable for being the birthplace of famous mariner Harold Lowe, who was fifth officer on the RMS Titanic when she sank on her maiden voyage.

Its last usage was as a convalescent home for men, run by the Manchester and Salford Hospital Saturday Fund and renamed after the eponymous chairman, Charles Swinglehurst.