North Wales Pilgrims' Way - Stage 3 (St Asaph to Eglwysbach)

The cathedral on a somewhat sunnier day

As I've mentioned before the cathedral in St Asaph was founded by the scottish saint Kentigern (who is also known as St Mungo, the founder of Glasgow Cathedral). The Welsh name for St Asaph is Llanelwy which means 'the church on the River Elwy'. St Asaph only appeared on the scene when St Kentigern/Mungo returned to Scotland and he appointed one of his disciples, Asaph, as Bishop of the cathedral. So just to complicate matters there is another church a couple of hundred yards down the road called St Asaph and St Kentigern, this is the local parish church and dates from the 13th century. And to round things off nicely the Catholic church in St Asaph is dedicated to St Winefride (who else!) You may think that I'm harking on a bit about all these saints but then this is a pilgrimage. 

There's a church on a hill

Our saintly visit to a very small city was over and we set off on the back road to Cefn Meiradog 5 miles away and the interesting looking St Mary's Church in a prominent position overlooking the tiny hamlet. I thought that it looked a bit grand for such a small location so I wasn't surprised when I found that, despite it's apparent antiquity, the church was built in the late 19th century to an Early English design funded by a local benefactor. Perhaps coonected to this is the fact that there is a St Mary's Well and ruined chapel down by the river that was a popular place of pilgrimage centuries ago. Sadly the well and chapel ruins are overgrown, the site doesn't appear to be visited any more and it's on private land - so we didn't go there!! 

Nice bit of wrought iron!

We crossed the old bridge at Bont Newydd (which is Welsh for 'new bridge' of course) and set off onwards and upwards on the other side of the valley clambering over fallen trees which following the recent storms were blocking the footpath - slow progress we were making! And it was beginning to occur to me that those helpful Pilgrims Way roundels on signposts and gates seemed to be far and few between today.  We managed to find our way over an undulating landscape of fields, some full of sheep some not, but all quite muddy until eventually we dropped down to the vale of the Afon Aled and a pretty little bridge in the hamlet of Bryn Rhyd Yr Arian. We were then able to make up a bit of time along a deserted track alongside the river - steady running all the way to Llansannan.

She's a mystery girl!

Here's a photo of the Little Girl memorial in the centre of Llansannan. Above her is a list of some of the famous townspeople including William Rees, a renowned Calvinist minister who was invited to travel internationally to deliver his sermons - sounds like a forthright character! The identity of the girl is a mystery, was she related to the chap who commissioned the sculpture, or the artist himself Sir William Goscombe John; or maybe she was a local girl, nobody seems to know. Goscombe John was a prolific Welsh sculptor whose works are more likely to be found in place like Cathays Park Cardiff

The name Llansannan derives from the church of St Sannan, another foreign bishop who roamed Wales in the medieval era leaving his mark here in the 6th century. Not much known about him but he was apparently a buddy of St David, patron saint of Wales, and also has churches named for him in Anglesey and South Wales. (In researching for and writing this blog I learn something new every day. Maybe this is widely known but I was unaware until today that the sailor's term Davy Jones's Locker is a reference to St David. Although I did, as a student, have an after hours drink or two - i.e. a 'lock-in' at the Davy Jones' Locker pub in Morecambe!) Rather than posting a picture of St Sannan's (I forgot to take a shot of it) I thought I should spread the good news around and give the fine Capel Coffa Henry Rees a mention for the non-conformists, of which there are many in Wales. From Llansannan we had a choice of routes and we took the road to Gwytherin as we were in danger of being seriously late for our rendezvous. 

I've been a bit top heavy with this leg regarding saints and churches and here's the final church at Gwytherin; surprise surprise it's called St Winifred's (note the slight change in spelling) but it's the same person who gave her name to the well in Holywell which we encountered on the first day of our meanderings. This building is no longer in use as a church but it's well looked after for posterity by a local group called the Gwenfrewi Project. The church was built in the 7th century on what is considered to be an ancient burial mound, the impressive yew trees in the graveyard are dated as being over 2000 years old and ceremonies may have taken place here as long ago as the Bronze Age

There was I waiting at the church!

Most medieval churches are sited on a west-east axis, generally the congregation will face the altar at the east end of the building. Is this because the second coming of Jesus Christ will be from the east, or was an earlier tradition of worshipping the rising sun a factor? Maybe it's a bit of both! And of the churches we've encountered thus far they all seem to be roughly facing east. Maybe they used a compass here in Gwytherin during the church's construction because it's not far off being exactly east facing - but then compasses weren't invented until the 11th century.  Do we have all the answers? No we don't!