St Melangell's Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Melangell's Church |
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Church and churchyard
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| 52°49′39″N 3°26′59″W / 52.82750°N 3.44972°W | |
| Location | Pennant Melangell, Llangynog, Powys |
| Country | Wales |
| Denomination | Church in Wales |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Mission Area of Tanat-Vyrnwy |
| Deanery | Mathrafal |
| Diocese | St Asaph |
St Melangell's Church is a very old church and shrine in a place called Pennant Melangell, in Powys, Wales. It's a special building because it's a Grade I listed site, meaning it's super important for its history.
The church was built on a spot that was used for burials even before Christianity arrived. It was probably built to remember Melangell, who was a hermit (someone who lives alone for religious reasons) and an abbess (a leader of nuns). She started a religious community and a safe place (a sanctuary) here.
The church you see today was built in the 1100s. People started writing about it in the 1200s. Over the years, the church has been fixed up many times, especially in the 1800s and 1900s. Between 1987 and 1994, archaeologists dug up the area. They found out a lot about what happened at Pennant Melangell long ago.
Inside St Melangell's Church, there's a rebuilt shrine to Melangell. It's thought to be the oldest Romanesque (an old style of building) shrine still around in Britain. This shrine is from the 1100s. It was a very popular place for religious visits in Wales until the Reformation (a big change in religion). The shrine was taken apart a long time ago. In 1958, it was put back together using pieces found in the church. Then, in 1989, it was taken apart again and rebuilt in 1991, based on new information. Even today, people still visit Pennant Melangell as pilgrims.
The church has one main room (a nave) and a square tower. It's made from different kinds of stone. At the east end, there's a rounded part called an apse, also known as the cell-y-bedd (which means "grave chamber"). This is where Melangell's grave is. Inside the church, there are many old and valuable things. These include a wooden screen from the 1400s that shows Melangell's story, two statues from the 1300s, and various old paintings. The churchyard has thousands of graves, most of them unmarked, and several old yew trees.
Where is St Melangell's Church?
Pennant Melangell is in the Tanat Valley, close to the Berwyn Mountains. The closest village is Llangynog. You can only get to the church by a narrow road from Llangynog. This makes it a bit hard to reach, unlike many other popular churches that pilgrims visit.
Other old places nearby include an old farm from the Middle Ages. There are also remains of the old village around the church. You can also find a natural rock shelf called Gwely Melangell (Melangell's Bed). At some point, probably in the 1800s, "St Monacella's Bed" was carved into the stone. About a kilometer north of the church is a holy well called Ffynnon Cwm Ewyn. People traditionally believed its water could help with problems like rheumatism and skin diseases. This well isn't named after a saint and might be even older than Christianity in the area.
Church History
The shrine of Melangell is considered the oldest Romanesque shrine still existing in Britain. The area where St Melangell's Church stands has been important for spiritual reasons since the Bronze Age (a very long time ago). It was likely turned into a Christian site by the Celtic Christians in the early Middle Ages.
Archaeologists have found proof that people were buried here centuries before Christianity came to Wales. They found signs of cremation pyres, which suggests there might have been a burial mound from the Bronze Age, possibly right under the church.
The Story of Melangell
According to her story, Melangell (also called Monacella) came to Pennant to escape an arranged marriage in Ireland. She lived alone for 15 years. One day, a prince named Brochwel was hunting a hare. The hare ran and hid under Melangell's clothes while she was praying. Prince Brochwel was so amazed that he gave her the land. He also said that anyone who came to Pennant could find a safe place (sanctuary) there forever. Melangell then started a community of nuns.
Pennant Melangell was probably founded in the late 700s. The story also mentions male leaders (abbots), suggesting a community of monks was later founded there too. By the 1200s, when the church was first written about, neither the nuns' nor the monks' communities were still there. Historically, local people refused to kill hares because of their connection to Melangell. Some experts believe that respecting hares at Pennant might come from older, pre-Christian Celtic beliefs.
Medieval Times
Before the stone church was built in the 1100s, we don't have clear proof of a church here. There might have been a wooden church built around the 1000s, which was later replaced. The shrine to Melangell also dates to the 1100s. It was probably made by local craftspeople.
A nobleman named Rhirid Flaidd might have built the church. The first written records of the Pennant church are from 1254. At that time, the church was valued at 2 marks, which was a bit less than average for the Diocese of St Asaph (the church district). However, by 1291, the church was one of the more valuable ones. This was probably because Melangell's cult (her religious following) became more popular. By the 1400s, a poet named Guto'r Glyn wrote that pilgrims visited Melangell's shrine to be cured of their illnesses. The entire roof was likely replaced in the 1400s, and the current rood screen (a carved wooden screen) was added. A side section might have been added to help pilgrims reach the shrine in the late Middle Ages.
Changes After the Reformation
Melangell's cult remained popular right up until the English Reformation (a time of big religious change in England). In 1535, the money collected from offerings at the shrine was similar to other major religious sites in Wales. But after the Reformation, the church's value dropped. This was because the worship of saints and pilgrimages were stopped. The big religious changes of the 1500s and 1600s also brought major changes to the church building. The shrine was likely taken apart around this time, and the grave chapel was blocked off.
Many repairs and changes were made throughout the 1700s. This included blocking up doors and windows, building a new porch, and replacing walls. The old cell-y-bedd was also built then, replacing the original medieval apse and grave chapel. It was probably used as a schoolroom and also as a vestry (a room for church robes). Even though the original apse was removed and Melangell's shrine was gone, her story continued. People still connected her with the cell-y-bedd.
Modern Restoration Work
The church tower you see today was built during the repairs of 1876–1877. It replaced an older tower. New benches (pews) and a new altar table were also added. To celebrate the restoration, a yew tree was planted in the churchyard in 1878.
After the 1800s repairs, the church was mostly forgotten and started to fall apart. With fewer people attending, there wasn't much money for repairs. By 1954, the cell-y-bedd was in bad shape, and some even suggested tearing it down. In 1958, the cell-y-bedd was fixed. The shrine was rebuilt in the chapel based on a design by Ralegh Radford. Small repairs and digging were also done in the church and cell-y-bedd.
By the 1980s, the church was again in poor condition and might have been torn down. Around this time, Paul Davies, a local priest, and his wife bought a cottage near the church after his wife recovered from cancer. Paul Davies volunteered to look after the church. Under his care, a Cancer Help Centre was started in their cottage. A full restoration of the church began. The apse was completely rebuilt, and the shrine was moved to the main part of the church (the chancel). The old statues were also moved to the chancel, and the church's furniture was fixed and rearranged. The church had no electricity or heating before. Electricity was installed for the first time during this restoration. A special service was held on May 27, 1992, to celebrate the restoration work.
After Paul Davies passed away in 1994, his wife Evelyn continued his work. She became the first "shrine guardian" of Pennant Melangell. Evelyn Davies was followed by Linda Mary Edwards in 2003, and Lynette Norman in 2011. The current shrine guardian is Christine Browne, who started in 2016.
Digging Up the Past: Archaeology
Between 1989 and 1994, a lot of digging (archaeological excavation) happened during the restoration work. This followed smaller digs in 1958 (in the cell-y-bedd) and 1987 (in the churchyard). These digs found a lot of new information about the church's history.
Digs in the cell-y-bedd showed that people were active at the site even in prehistoric times. They found small pits filled with soil, charcoal, and bone pieces. This showed that people were buried by cremation (burning bodies) during the Middle Bronze Age. An early medieval stone slab, possibly a grave, was also found under the floor. More prehistoric burial activity was found inside the church too. These finds were also from the Middle Bronze Age. Early medieval burials were also uncovered, dating from before the church was built in the 1100s. In total, at least 16 burials were found under the church, dating from the medieval period to the 1700s.
Pieces of Bronze Age pottery were found under the west end of the church. Nine pieces were found in total. Seven of these were from the top part of a large bucket-shaped pot. Other finds included medieval pottery, a dark red glass bead that might be pre-Saxon, and a carved stone tool. A piece of a Romanesque candlestick from the 1100s was also found. It had a dragon head and beadwork.
Digging in the north part of the churchyard uncovered 25 or 26 possible graves that no one knew about before. We don't know their exact date, but they are probably from before the 1500s. Some graves had stones on top, and one had a thick layer of white quartz pebbles. No coffins were found, and only a few had bones. A circular pit filled with charcoal and soil, possibly from prehistoric times, was also found.
Modern Pilgrimage
Today, Pennant Melangell still attracts pilgrims, both religious and non-religious. A survey in 2004 found that people visited for spiritual, historical, archaeological, and architectural reasons. Most visitors (83%) went to church at least once a year, while 17% did not. Of those who didn't go to church, 51% were interested in the site's spiritual side. Also, 38% of non-churchgoers did religious things at the church, like praying or lighting candles. The church's quiet, beautiful location also helped attract visitors. It made them feel the place was sacred.
A study from 2013–2016 looked at the prayers left by visitors, mostly on prayer cards and in a prayer book. The prayers showed that visitors come from many different religious backgrounds. Many prayers mentioned cancer, showing the influence of the cancer support work. Other common themes in the prayers included Melangell herself, the sacredness of the place, nature, and womanhood.
The Shrine of Melangell
St Melangell's shrine is a rebuilt version of the original from the 1100s. It was put together using pieces found around the church. We don't know exactly when it was taken apart, but it was likely during the Reformation, like many other shrines in England and Wales. Some pieces of the dismantled shrine were used in the 1600s lychgate (a churchyard gate with a roof) and in the church walls when it was repaired in the 1600s and 1700s.
People like Pennant and Parker noticed these pieces, but they thought they were from an earlier church. Then, in 1894, Worthington George Smith realized they were from a former shrine. In 1958, the shrine was rebuilt in the cell-y-bedd by architect R.B. Heaton. It was based on a study by Ralegh Radford and included an altar and a container for holy relics. The 1958 shrine was taken apart in 1989 and rebuilt again in 1991, based on new ideas.
We don't know what the original shrine looked like. There are no pictures of it before it was taken apart, and no similar shrines from that time to compare it to. The designs on the shrine, like the 'willow' and 'half-pear' shapes, suggest a connection to Ireland. The steep roof design of Melangell's shrine was also common for small, portable containers for relics in medieval Ireland. The leaf designs might represent the bramble bush where Prince Brochwel found Melangell and the hare.
Church Building and Design
The church has one main room (a nave), with a chancel (the area around the altar) and an apse (a rounded end) at the east. There's a tower at the west end. The building is made of water-worn pebbles, larger flat stones, and pieces of shale. Different parts of the church were built at different times, from the 1100s to the 1900s. The main roof is made of slate with stone tiles, and the porch roof is black ceramic tile. The square tower is from the 1800s. It has a pointed roof topped with a small wooden belfry (bell tower). The apse, built from 1989 to 1992, has three rounded modern windows in an 1100s style. The current bell is from 1918 and was made by the Taylors of Loughborough.
The Grave Chamber (Cell-y-bedd)
The cell-y-bedd, or apse, might have been built to hold Melangell's relics (holy remains). It's at the east end of the church and was possibly built over her grave. A stone slab marks the spot of the grave. Melangell's relics might have been placed there for pilgrims to visit. The original cell-y-bedd was torn down in 1989 and replaced with the current apse in 1990. Most of the old structure was built in 1751. It was a small, uneven rectangular room with one window. It replaced the original medieval apse. It was built from shale slabs and boulders. It had many blocked-up doorways and patched holes from repairs over the centuries. The new apse, built from local rounded boulders, was made to look as much like the original 1100s apse as possible. A new concrete floor with a cobbled surface was also laid, and the grave slab was placed on top.
Inside the Church
Most of the things inside St Melangell's Church are typical for a church in a remote area. It has several old items: an 1100s baptismal font (for baptisms), a 1600s chest, a 1700s chalice (a cup for communion), an early 1700s pulpit (where sermons are given), a 1700s candelabrum (a large candle holder), and a large whale rib. No one knows why the whale rib is there, or where it came from. It might have been part of a harp. It's sometimes called Asen y gawres (Giant's rib) or Asen Melangell (Melangell's rib).
The church also has several wall paintings, from the medieval period to the Victorian era. The medieval paintings are faint traces of flower and geometric patterns, mostly from the 1200s. Several wall writings from the 1600s were found during the 1876–1877 restorations, but none of them remain. A Stuart coat of arms (a royal symbol) was also found. It was from after the Stuart Restoration (when the monarchy was brought back). It was painted over with a Hanoverian coat of arms in the 1700s, and then covered with plaster. Above the altar was a painting from 1791 called a reredos. It showed the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, all in Welsh and decorated with angels. This painting was later saved and moved. An 1886 copy on wood was placed on the altar, which protected the original. Gothic revival stenciled designs were also added around the chancel in the 1800s.
The Rood Screen
The carved wooden rood screen is from the late 1400s. It has the earliest known picture of Melangell and the hare. Much of the original screen is gone, but what survived was fixed and put back together with parts of the loft balcony during the 1989–1992 work. The carvings on the screen show Prince Brochwel on horseback, a hunter, Melangell, the hare, and two hunting dogs. They are all within a border of leaves. Traces of red, pink, yellow, brown, black, and blue paint have been found on the screen. Melangell is shown as an abbess, wearing a veil and holding a crosier (a staff carried by a bishop or abbess).
A Welsh priest named John Parker said the carvings were "decidedly grotesque, and verging on the ludicrous" (meaning strange and almost silly). But he also noted how "clever and ingenious" the story was told, despite the artist's challenges. Below the carving of Melangell are decorations of acorns and oak leaves. The screen is carved from solid oak wood, with no separate pieces attached.
Old Statues (Effigies)
Two stone statues, called effigies, from the 1300s, were moved into the church in 1876. They were placed against the west wall. The male statue was previously in the churchyard. We don't know where the female statue was before, or where either of them originally came from. Both statues have been damaged over the centuries. People sharpened knives on them and carved initials into the stone.
The male statue shows a young man with a sword and shield. He is lying down with his head on cushions, and an animal (possibly a wolf) is under his feet. The writing around the edge of the shield is now unreadable, so we don't know who the man is. But people have traditionally said he is Iorwerth Drwyndwn. Thomas Jones, a vicar of Pennant Melangell in the 1700s, was known for his "fits of frenzy." He supposedly attacked the legs of the male statue with a stone during one of these outbursts, causing lasting damage.
The female statue is traditionally thought to be Melangell, but this is not certain. The figure wears a long dress and a square headdress common in the late 1300s. She has a lion at her feet and two animals on either side. These animals might be hares. If they are, then the statue would be a religious figure of Melangell, similar to ones found in other churches in Anglesey. The first known time this statue was identified as Melangell was in Thomas Pennant's Tours in Wales in 1773.
The Churchyard
The churchyard of Pennant Melangell is mostly round and surrounded by a stone wall. This wall is probably much older than the first mentions of it in the 1700s. The oldest marked graves in the churchyard are in the southeast, near the chancel and apse. The earliest grave marker is from 1619. Since burial records began in 1680, about 1,000 burials have been recorded. Most of these graves are unmarked. Another 1,000–2,000 unmarked graves, some as old as the 1100s, are believed to be in the churchyard. These include graves of pilgrims from other places. Three graves belong to soldiers who died in World War I. The Welsh harpist Nansi Richards is also buried here.
The base of an old stone cross, possibly moved from next to the lychgate, lies among the gravestones. It is used as the base for a sundial. North of the church is a mound. This might have been a place for preaching, connected to the worship of Saint Germanus. There are seven yew trees in the churchyard. The largest yew tree is 3.5 meters wide. Most of them are believed to be much older than the first written mentions of them in the 1700s.
The lychgate, probably from the 1500s or 1600s, used to have pieces of the original shrine in it. But these stones were removed in 1958. The gate has arched openings on both sides and stone seats inside. A small piece of writing, probably from when the gate was built, still remains. Most of the writing is lost, but the full text was recorded several times in the church records of the 1700s. It read:
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Tuedda 'n bur at Weddi |
Incline thyself in purity to Prayer, |
Historically, the churchyard was used for many non-religious things, like games and festivals. Two former cockpits (places for cockfights) have been recorded. They were likely used until the 1800s, but they are not there anymore. Plays were also performed in the churchyard.
