Cynfarwy

Last updated

Cynfarwy was a Christian in the 7th century about whom little is known. He was venerated by the early church in Wales as a saint, although he was never formally canonised. St Cynfarwy's Church in Anglesey is dedicated to him, and his name is also preserved in the name of the settlement around the church, Llechgynfarwy (or sometimes "Llechcynfarwy"). His feast day is in November, although the date varies between sources.

Contents

Life and commemoration

St Cynfarwy's Church, Llechgynfarwy Eglwys Cynfarwy Sant, Llechcynfarwy.jpg
St Cynfarwy's Church, Llechgynfarwy

Little is known for certain about Cynfarwy; his dates of birth and death are not given in the Bonedd y Saint (a Welsh genealogical tract compiled in the late 18th century using material from older manuscripts). [1] [2] According to the 19th-century Celtic scholar Robert Williams, Cynfarwy was active in the 7th century. [3] According to the Bonedd y Saint, he was the son of the otherwise unknown "Awy ab Llehenog, Lord of Cornwall". [2]

Cynfarwy is venerated as a saint, although he was never canonized by a pope: as the historian Jane Cartwright notes, "In Wales sanctity was locally conferred and none of the medieval Welsh saints appears to have been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church". [4]

Church and feast day

Cynfarwy is the patron saint of St Cynfarwy's Church, Llechgynfarwy in Anglesey, north Wales. According to the 19th-century Welsh historian Angharad Llwyd, he established the first church there in about 630. [5] The present church (which is a Grade II listed building) mainly dates from the 19th century, but has some medieval fabric and a 12th-century font. [6]

Until the 19th century, there was a stone more than 9 feet (3 m) high in the field next to church, known Maen Llechgynfarwy (maen meaning "stone", llech meaning "slate" and "-gynfarwy" being a modified form of the saint's name). The settlement around the church, which is about 10 miles (16 km) from the port of Holyhead, is known as Llechgynfarwy (or sometimes as "Llechcynfarwy"). [2] [5]

The traditional date for the feast of St Cynfarwy varies between antiquarian sources, although all place it in November. Some manuscripts say that it falls on the 10th, some on the 11th, whilst according to Angharad Llwyd and others the festival is marked on the 7th. [2]

See also

Other Anglesey saints commemorated in local churches include:

Related Research Articles

James Williams was a Welsh cleric. Williams was the great-grandfather of famous Welsh artist Kyffin Williams.

Nidan was a Welsh priest and, according to some sources, a bishop, in the 6th and 7th centuries. He is now commemorated as a saint. He was the confessor for the monastery headed by St Seiriol at Penmon, and established a church at what is now known as Llanidan, which are both places on the Welsh island of Anglesey. He is the patron saint of two churches in Anglesey: St Nidan's Church, Llanidan, built in the 19th century, and its medieval predecessor, the Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan. Midmar Old Kirk in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is also dedicated to him: Nidan is said to have helped to establish Christianity in that area as a companion of St Kentigern. St Nidan's, Llanidan, has a reliquary dating from the 14th or 16th century, which is said to house his relics.

St Peulans Church, Llanbeulan Church in Wales

St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan is a redundant Anglican church in Llanbeulan, in Anglesey, north Wales. The nave, which is the oldest part of the building, dates from the 12th century, with a chancel and side chapel added in the 14th century. The church has a font of early date, possibly from the first half of the 11th century: one historian has said that it would initially have been used as an altar and that "as an altar of the pre-Norman period it is a unique survivor in Wales and, indeed, in Britain".

St Cristioluss Church, Llangristiolus Church in Wales

St Cristiolus's Church, Llangristiolus is a medieval church near the village of Llangristiolus, in Anglesey, north Wales. The village, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the building, takes its name from the church. Reputedly founded by St Cristiolus in 610, the present building dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. Alterations were made in the 16th century, when the large east window in Perpendicular style was added to the chancel – a window which has been described by one guide to the buildings of north Wales as "almost too big to fit" in the wall. Some restoration work took place in the mid-19th century, when further windows were added and the chancel largely rebuilt.

Saint Iestyn

Iestyn was a Welsh hermit and confessor in the 6th or 7th century who is venerated as a saint. He was the founder of two churches, one in Gwynedd and another in Anglesey, both in north Wales.

Saint Peulan was a Welsh holy man in the early part of the 6th century, the son of Paulinus, a saint from south Wales who taught Saint David. A follower of Cybi, a saint associated with the island of Anglesey in north Wales, Peulan is commemorated in the dedication of the church he reportedly founded, St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan, on Anglesey.

St Cwyllogs Church, Llangwyllog Church in Wales

St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, is a medieval church near Llangwyllog, in Anglesey, north Wales. St Cwyllog founded a church here in the 6th century, although the exact date is unknown. The existence of a church here was recorded in 1254 and parts of the present building may date from around 1200. Other parts are from the 15th century, with an unusual annexe added in the 16th century. The church contains some 18th-century fittings, including a rare Georgian three-decker pulpit and reading desk.

Cwyllog

Saint Cwyllog was a Christian holy woman who was active in Anglesey, Wales, in the early 6th century. The daughter, sister and niece of saints, she is said to have founded St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, in the middle of Anglesey, where a church is still dedicated to her.

Elaeth was a Christian king and poet in Britain in the 6th century who is venerated as a saint. After losing his territory in the north of Britain, he retreated to Anglesey, north Wales, where he lived at a monastery run by St Seiriol at Penmon. Some religious poetry is attributed to him, as is the foundation of St Eleth's Church, Amlwch, also in Anglesey.

St Eleths Church, Amlwch Church in Wales

St Eleth's Church, Amlwch is a parish church built in the Neo-classical style in 1800 in Amlwch, a town on the island of Anglesey in north Wales. It stands on the site of earlier buildings, with the first church here said to have been established by St Elaeth in the 6th century. Increasing prosperity in the town through copper mining during the 18th century led to the construction of a new church to serve the growing population.

St Tyfrydogs Church, Llandyfrydog Church in Wales

St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog is a small medieval church, in Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, north Wales. The date of establishment of a church on this site is unknown, but one 19th-century Anglesey historian says that it was about 450. The oldest parts of the present building are dated to about 1400, with the chancel dating from the late 15th or early 16th century. It is built from rough, small, squared stones, dressed with limestone. One of the windows on the south side is raised to illuminate the pulpit, a decision that in the eyes of one 19th-century commentator "disfigures the building."

Tyfrydog was a Christian from north-west Wales in the fifth or sixth century, who was later venerated as a saint. He is said to have established a church in Anglesey, and although no part of the original structure remains, the current church is still dedicated to him. A nearby standing stone is said to be the remains of a man who he punished for stealing a bible from the church.

St Deiniols Church, Llanddaniel Fab Church in Wales

St Deiniol's Church, Llanddaniel Fab, is a small 19th-century parish church in the centre of Llanddaniel Fab, a village in Anglesey, north Wales. The first church in this location is said to have been established by St Deiniol Fab in 616. He was the son of St Deiniol, the first Bishop of Bangor. The current building, which is in Early English style, incorporates some material and fittings from an earlier church on the site, including the font and an 18th-century memorial in the porch. The vestry door has medieval jambs and the keystone of its arch, which is also medieval, is a carved human face. Some parts of the nave walls may also come from a previous building here.

Caffo was a sixth-century Christian in Anglesey, north Wales, who is venerated as a saint and martyr. The son of a king from northern Britain who took shelter in Anglesey, Caffo was a companion of St Cybi, and is mentioned as carrying a red-hot coal in his clothes to Cybi without his clothes getting burnt. After leaving Cybi, Caffo was killed by shepherds in the south of Anglesey, possibly acting in retaliation for insults Caffo's brother had paid to the local ruler. The area where he died has a village, Llangaffo, named after him, as well as the parish church of St Caffo, Llangaffo.

St Caians Church, Tregaian Church in Wales

St Caian's Church, Tregaian, also known as St Caean's Church, Tregaean, is a small medieval church dating from the 14th century in Anglesey, north Wales. It is dedicated to St Caian, a Christian from the 5th or 6th century about whom little is known. The building contains a late 14th-century east window and a late 15th-century doorway. The churchyard contains the grave of William ap Howel, who died in 1581 at the age of 105, leaving over forty children between the ages of 8 and 89 and over three hundred living descendants.

St Llibios Church, Llanllibio Church in Wales

St Llibio's Church, Llanllibio is a demolished church in Anglesey, north Wales. Founded by Llibio in the sixth century, the church served a small community of bondmen as a chapel of ease. The population of Llanllibio declined substantially during the Middle Ages as a result of the Black Death and changes in farming practice, amongst other factors, and the community that the church served effectively disappeared. As a result, St Llibio's closed in the seventeenth century; the remaining worshippers moved to another local church.

Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo Church in Anglesey, Wales

The Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo is a medieval ruined church near Dulas, in Anglesey, Wales, perhaps built in the 15th century to replace another church from which only the 12th-century font survived. Dedicated to Gwenllwyfo, a 7th-century female saint about whom nothing else is known, it was used as a chapel of ease for the church in Amlwch, about 5 miles (8 km) away. Restored in 1610 and again in the 18th and 19th centuries, it contained an oak screen and pulpit from 1610.

Gwenllwyfo

Gwenllwyfo was a female Christian recognised as a saint. She is commemorated in the dedication of two churches near Dulas, Anglesey, in Wales: St Gwenllwyfo's Church, Llanwenllwyfo and its medieval predecessor, the Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo, which is now in ruins.

St Ceinwens Church, Cerrigceinwen Church in Wales

St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen, is a former parish church in the countryside of central Anglesey, north Wales. The present building dates from 1860, although the site has been used for worship since at least the 7th century. The doorway reuses some old carved gravestones, one from the 9th to 11th centuries, and another from the 12th century. The church grounds contain a well, once thought to have healing properties. The church and the well are both named after St Ceinwen, an early Celtic female saint.

St Enghenedls Church, Llanynghenedl Church in Wales

St Enghenedl's Church, Llanynghenedl, is a former parish church in Anglesey, north Wales, dedicated to the son of a 6th-century King of Powys. According to the 19th-century antiquarian Angharad Llwyd, the first church in Llanynghenedl was erected in about 620. A new church was erected in 1862, replacing a building that the 19th-century clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones noted as dating in part from the late 13th or early 14th century, based on the decorations on the south doorway. The church later fell into disuse as a result of the growth of the nearby village of Valley and the church there. In 1988, St Enghenedl's was dismantled and re-erected as an extension to St Mihangel's, Llanfihangel yn Nhowyn, so that St Mihangel's could serve as the church for RAF Valley. The former churchyard of St Enghenedl's is still visible but is now overgrown.(The churchyard is being cared for and no longer overgrown 2020 update)

References

  1. Parry, John Humffreys (November 1821). "Genealogy of the Saints". The Cambro-Briton. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall. III: 7–8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Baring-Gould, Sabine (1908). The lives of the British Saints: the Saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish Saints as have dedications in Britain. II. Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. p. 243.
  3. Williams, Robert (1852). Enwogion Cymru: A biographical dictionary of eminent Welshmen, from the earliest times to the present, and including every name connected with the ancient history of Wales. W. Rees. p.  95.
  4. Cartwright, Jane (Spring 2002). "Dead virgins: feminine sanctity in medieval Wales". Medium Aevum. The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 Llwyd, Angharad (1833). A History of the Island of Mona. R. Jones. p.  301.
  6. Cadw (2009). "Church of St Cynfarwy". Historic Wales. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.