St Beuno’s Church and holy well, Clynnog Fawr

A spiritually rich place near the start of the Lleyn Pilgrims Trail‍

Highlights

• Likely grave of St Beuno
• Revived centre of pilgrimage
• Medieval church and shrine chapel
• Holy well

The great miracle-worker St Beuno not only founded this church but might be buried here too. Add to that his nearby holy well, which still flows, and you have a major site of pilgrimage. Little surprise that the church is so big. A medieval money chest for pilgrims’ offerings has been carved out of a single tree trunk, now prominently displayed in the nave. It has certainly earned its place.

The church rightly celebrates its pilgrimage credentials. It was the starting point of two famous pilgrimages to Bardsey Island, in 1950 and in 1992, when the church was filled to overflowing in a revival of this great medieval route. Some still make the pilgrimage by themselves along the Llyn peninsula, starting at this church. St Beuno is also associated with Holywell, Britain’s most visited saintly spring.

The side chapel containing St Beuno’s probable grave was locked when I visited, as the church is not always attended. Make contact in advance if you are particularly keen to see it. There is plenty else to see in the church besides the little chapel, and there is some doubt whether he actually lies here anyway. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints is sure that he does, but another St Beuno’s Church 10 miles away at Pistyll is sometimes claimed as his last resting place.

Whatever his ultimate fate, St Beuno certainly founded the church here as an abbey in 616. It soon developed into North Wales’s most important clas, a Celtic institution that roughly equates to a monastic seminary, operating under its own community rules. St Beuno’s side chapel is thought to stand on the site of his original wooden building. It has the unique feature of being attached to the church by a short covered walkway. Despite being locked when I came, the church itself is usually open daily from Easter to October.

A stone leaning against the wall inside St Beuno’s Chapel is known as Maen Beuno and is said to bear the imprint of the saint’s fingers. If the chapel happens to be open, visitors can kneel before it and trace their fingers over a cross engraved in the centre before crossing themselves, as they did in medieval times when visiting his grave and holy well.

As for the well itself, modern road building has for once been kind to an ancient holy site. It is five minutes’ walk from the church along what used to be the main coastal road. Little more than a country lane, this road has been supplanted by a busy dual carriageway that bypasses Clynnog Fawr. Suddenly left in peace, it lends itself to ancient devotions again.

A foot of water gathers in the stone basin here, which has two banks of benches on either side. The rock walls were starting to break up at one end when I visited, but it has been carefully tended by locals since then. The water might not be clean enough to bathe in, as I did when it seemed to be seldom visited.

The well’s healing ritual was closely linked to the church. After bathing in the waters, a patient would go to the church and sleep on St Beuno’s tombstone, using rushes for a bed.

St Beuno died in 642 on 21 April, which is remembered as his saint’s day.

Directions‍

St Beuno’s Church, Clynnog Fawr LL54 5NP

W3W: twee.butlers.arrow

GPS: 53.0210N 4.3655W (church)

W3W: grinning.alley.never

GPS: 53.0188N 4.3670W (well)‍

St Beuno’s Church is large enough to be unmissable in Clynnog Fawr, open 10am–5pm from Easter to Oct. To find the holy well, leave the church onto the main village high street. Walk out of town past the petrol station and forecourt shop, and keep going. Don’t follow the detour down to the new dual carriageway, but continue straight ahead and the well is on your left 100m along the lane.