St Dwynwen’s hermitage site, Llanddwyn Island

Pilgrims have visited this holy well to seek St Dwynwen’s blessing, and occasional help with affairs of the heart too, at a Celtic site visited by the Anglesey Way

Highlights

• ‍‍Hermitage site of St Dwynwen
• Patron saint of lovers in Wales
• Ruined medieval church

St Dwynwen lived a hermit’s life on this lonely peninsula—a strip of land so narrow the sound of the crashing sea follows you everywhere. At high tides, it becomes an island, an evocative place to bring a broken heart. St Dwynwen was at home here, a princess freed from a romance gone spectacularly wrong.

The daughter of King Brychan, St Dwynwen fell in love with an unsuitable young man named Maelon. They lived some time in the 5th century, the mists of time obscuring why he proved unworthy of her hand. St Dwynwen prayed for help and received a magic potion from an angel. She gave it to Maelon, hoping to end their problems, and he turned to stone. Having anticipated a less drastic form of relationship counselling, she prayed desperately that Maelon would be restored to life, that she would fall out of love and remain forever unmarried—and that God would always work through her to protect true lovers. It is no doubt the latter that qualifies her as the Welsh version of St Valentine, remembered on 25 January.

Her hermitage on this rocky headland became a major site of pilgrimage after her death in around 460. Substantial church ruins testify to a popular following, and miracles were recorded as late as the 15th century at her holy well. This was large enough for immersion by those in serious need of healing. The pool’s ritual has fallen into disuse, the church turned to a picturesque ruin, but Llanddwyn’s Christian heritage is remembered by two recent crosses erected nearby. The simpler cross marks the site of St Dwynwen’s hermitage. The round-headed Celtic cross is a war memorial.

The healing pool is slightly tricky to reach, lying in a depression at the very edge of the island’s rocky coastline. To find it, look through the chancel’s ruined north window, and you will see a split rock on the skyline about 30m away. Walk past that to the coastline, and then turn right along the shore back towards the mainland for a minute or so. The holy source is named on the Ordnance Survey map as Ffynnon Dafaden, its overflow trickling into the sea.

There is an exhibition with more information in the Pilots Cottages, a row of white-painted houses near the tip of the peninsula, close to the hermitage cross. The Anglesey Druids Way pilgrim route includes this island.

Pilgrims continued to visit the pool long after the Reformation, so remote is the headland from prying eyes. The wild stretch of beach beyond has been used by naturists for decades, something which caused a surprise controversy when mentioned in one of my previous books.

Directions

Forestry Commission car park, accessed via Church Street, Newborough LL61 6SG

W3W: beak.feared.ratio

GPS: 53.1376N 4.4127W church ruins on island

W3W: gazes.tell.unfair GPS: 53.1438N 4.3852W car park

Llanddwyn Island is 3km on foot from the nearest car park. From the main A4080 high street in Newborough village, turn west on to Church Street. This turning is marked with a sign saying ‘Llys Rhosyn’ and a blue P parking logo. The Forestry Commission toll booth at the end of Church Street takes cards or cash, an all-day flat rate of £5. After two miles, the toll road ends at a large car park by the sea. At the beach, turn right and you will see the peninsula ahead of you at the end of a long sweep of sand. It is a 30-minute walk to the ruined church, half of it along the beach and half along the peninsula.