THE STORY OF TWO PARISHES

DOLGELLEY & LLANELLTYD

by T.P.ELLIS

IX.  LLANELLTYD CHURCH AND GWANAS HOSPICE.   

CHURCH- EARLY DAYS-THE PRESENT CHURCH-THE CIRCULAR GRAVEYARD, THE SANCTUARY AREA-THE PILGRIM'S STONE-THE DORMER WINDOW-YR HEN DAFARN-THE FIRST TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT -THE DOLGELLEY TY'N Y LLAN-THE GRANGE OF GWANAS - THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS - GWANAS 'MANOR'-THE HOLY WELLS OF DOLGELLEY. 

SOMETHING has already been said of the founder of Llanelltyd Church.  From the far-off days when Sir Galahad came there until the Cistercians followed in his wake-a period of six or seven hundred years-little is known of it.  It is not mentioned in the Norwich Taxatio of 1253, but it is referred to in the Taxatio of 1291. 

  When the Cistercians came, the church at Llanelltyd was served by monks from the Abbey for a space of three and a half centuries, and it is in this connection that we have mention of it in 1291.  It is more than probable that it was in the early days of Abbey rule that the present church was built to take the place of the older wooden church.  Part of the outer walls still standing appear to belong to the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the changes that have been wrought since then have not seriously affected the general outlines of the ancient church.  It is a delightful example of medieval Celtic architecture; and all its surroundings recall vividly days long since past.

The church stands in the middle of a circular graveyard, one of the most perfect specimens of the type left to us. There are just a few traces of a similar one in the outliner, of the Dolgelley churchyard. The two modern additions to the Llanelltyd one have fortunately left the old graveyard untouched, and it is hoped that, at no future time, will it ever be altered.  It is one of the most precious historical remains in Merioneth.  The circular graveyard has lasted well over a thousand years; probably 1300 years.  It was there, as it is now, 300 years or more before King Alfred ruled in England.

The reason why it is circular is this.  In olden times, the altar in a church was a very holy place indeed; more holy than it is generally regarded now, for people believed that, on the altars of the Church.  Christ was, in the strictest literal sense of the word, actually present.  That being so, anyone who claimed the protection of the altar, no matter what he had done, could not be touched. He was at once protected by the altar and by God from the vengeance of man, and round the sacred altar a circle was drawn, within which a man, so long as he remained within that circle, could claim sanctuary for seven years and seven days.  The graveyard at Llanelltyd was the sanctuary circle of the church, and the limits of the circle were settled in this way: the ploughman stood at the foot of the altar, with his arm outstretched, and, in his outstretched hand, he held the yoke of his plough-team.  A plough team consisted of eight oxen, yoked two abreast, and the yoke extended from the front of the first couple to the end of the plough.  Holding the yoke in his hand, the ploughman, no doubt with assistance, swept it round in a circle, and all land within that circle, which was called the " erw," became holy ground.  That is the origin of the phrase "God's acre," for " erw " means " acre." It was the immediate circle of God's protection, not of the dead, but of the living, however guilty. 

People, I think rather fancifully, go a great deal further back than that in explaining the old Welsh circular graveyards.  They associate them with the ancient stone-circles of the Druids, or whoever it was who made stone-circles. 

Another object worthy of notice in the Llanelltyd church is an old stone, on the top of which there is incised a footprint, and underneath an inscription which reads in Latin, The mark of Rhodri is on the top of this stone, which he placed there when he, set out on a pilgrimage." Nothing is known about Rhodri, for that or Rhydderch appears to be the name; but the inscription on the stone is about 600 years old, and it commemorates the fact that Rhodri set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or to Rome or to St. Iago in Spain, for in the Middle Ages great importance was attached to the performance of a pilgrimage. Welsh people were particularly prone to indulge in this way of acquiring "merit "; and the ancient laws of Wales prohibited any suit being  filed against a pilgrim seeking in the Holy City absolution for his sins

The  commemorative stone is believed to be the only one of its kind in the British Isles.   

The upper windows of the church on the southern side are very peculiar, and seem to be of the early Tudor period. Similar windows existed in the XVIIIth century on the northern side, but they have long since been demolished. They are of great interest as examples of how what are known as “clerestories" began to be made in churches, and they are the only ones which have survived in this part of the world. 

In indigenous Welsh architecture the clerestory was never developed further than the letting in of dormer-windows to admit light to the gallery, the rood-loft or the altar, and, in the Llanelltyd example, there is a charming instance of the adaptation of house architecture to ecclesiastical purposes.  

Of course, there are plenty of clerestories in Welsh churches, like those of Towyn and Llanaber; but their style of architecture is not Celtic.

On the south-west corner of the church graveyard there is a house, still known as "yr hên dafarn," the old tavern. It fulfilled of old, many purposes. It was a place where worshippers, coming from outlying parts of the parish, could stable their horses, have their weekly chat with their neighbours, and enjoy a rest before or after service; but one of its most important functions was that it was the centre of a kind of temperance movement.        

The old Welsh were very fond of " metheglyn” or mead, an exceptionally strong alcoholic drink made of fermented honey.  The Church, wise in its generation, knew it was impossible to put an end to all drinking of alcohol at once, so it established these rest-houses in many Welsh parishes near the church, and people were supplied there with the far less intoxicating liquor of " cwrw." The inn was always called " ty'n y llan,"-the church house.  That was the beginning of the temperance movement in Wales, which has gone a great deal further since and has substituted water for beer, so that most villages in Wales are now like Llanelltyd, entirely devoid of anywhere where a thirsty man can satisfy his thirst, unless he be content with " pop " or water. 

There used to be a similar inn at Dolgelley, and at one time it appears to have been called the Eagles "; but its name is quite forgotten now, and no one can point out for certain where the Dolgelley " ty'n y llan " stood.  It was near the church gate, and possibly occupied the site of the present County Council offices.  One informant is quite definite about it : but he is rather apt to supplement knowledge by guess-work. 

In the neighbourhood of Dolgelley, and within the boundaries of the ancient parish, which formerly extended from the top of the water-shed to near Arthog, there used to be a grange of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. It was situated at Gwanas, and the meadow in which it stood is still called Dol Yspytty. It has long since disappeared but it is sometimes suggested that some of the old woodwork is to be found in houses in the neighbourhood. It was in a flourishing condition in 1284, for in that year it was made quit of all renders to the King, its but it did not enjoy immunity and independence long for Edward 1. soon appropriated its revenues to Helston Abbey Salop, and it was, suffered to decay and fall into ruin, though a chapel was maintained there till the Reformation, for in 1494 David ap Meurig Fychan of Nannau bequeathed  sum of 6s/8d wherewith to glaze its windows. 

The Knights Hospitallers were not altogether an asset to any countryside which they honoured with their presence; and in Wales, they became a veritable nuisance. Their precincts were immune from secular jurisdiction, and, in the wildest times in Wales, relying upon this immunity, the Knights made their precincts the rallying-point for all the robber and outlaw elements they could gather together to prey upon the land, far and wide.

Edward I. probably had good reason to remove the Gwanas hospice from its extremely convenient proximity-convenient for the Yspeilwyr-to the high road leading across the mountains. 

What exactly happened to its small estates when Helston Abbey was suppressed it is hard to say.  Probably they were granted to some supporter of the King, and subsequently sold to others, as happened with Cymmer. For a long time in the XVIIIth century Gwanas was called a "lordship," and I believe a kind of manorial court was held in connection with it; but Gwanas never was a lordship" or a " manor"; and the assumption of the term was without any warrant, so far as can be ascertained. Exactly the same sort of thing was attempted with Dolgelley, which in the same century was quite incorrectly called a " manor." 

We cannot leave the religious cults of the Middle Ages, without a slight reference to the holy wells. 

The holy wells of Wales, played a considerable part in the life of the people until quite recent days. Most churches in the land had at least one associated with it, and they all possessed some virtue in which the people believed implicitly. The origin of the holy well is probably to be found in ancient paganism, and in the story of the "Lady of the Fountain” Wales possesses one of the very oldest folk-tales, which throw light upon their origin. They were the abodes of sprites or goddesses in the days when the gods dwelt in the land side by side with the people.  As Christianity arose, the sprite or goddess gave way to the saint, who bestowed upon the well her protection and power of working miracles. 

Whether Llanelltyd ever possessed a holy well or not, it is impossible to tell.  Probably it did, but all definite memory of it has been lost; though 1 have been told there is a small spring a little way up the hill, behind the present vicarage, which possibly was a holy well.  It is very different with Dolgelley, for there, there are no less than five ancient wells or springs.

The most famous of all is Ffynnon Fair or Mary's Well, situated to the south of the town, and which was famous of old for its cure of rheumatism.  It  must have had some reputation even in the time of the Romans, for Roman coins have been found near it. It is now disused and half-choked with rubbish, and its last useful function, that of supplying water to the town, came to an end when water was brought down from Llyn Cynwch.

The other four wells, strange to say, bear no saints' names.  They are Ffynnon y Llygaid. the Well of the Eyes on the Corris Road, till quite, recently reputed to cure ophthalmic troubles; Ffynnon y Rhyd, the well; of the Ford; Ffynnon Ffridd Arw, the well of the rough sheep-walk; and Ffynnon y Gro, the gravel fountain, each one of them being credited in the past with healing qualities. No legend survives regarding them now, and the townspeople of Dolgelley have not been wide enough awake to treasure them and convert them into a spa like Llandrindod.

We have delayed quite long enough over ancient faiths and beliefs and churches; it is time to pass on to more secular matters.