St Engan’s Church, Llanengan

The 72-mile Lleyn Pilgrims Trail winds through this village past its fine church

Highlights

• Holy well of St Engan
• Rare medieval rood screen

This well is on private land, cared for by its owner after neglect threatened to erase the structure from the landscape altogether. It lies just beyond the graveyard of St Engan’s Church, hidden behind a bramble-covered embankment.

St Engan is more commonly known as St Einion, a local prince of the 6th century who did much to support the early church on the Llyn Peninsula and Anglesey. He is credited with funding the first monastery on Bardsey Island. Little wonder that his church was a major stopping point for pilgrims on their way to that holy isle.

The well structure has been rebuilt in recent years, with a bench behind it and a chamber that still fills with clear water. Some guides claim that there were two wells here, but I saw only this source. A nearby muddy puddle might have misled someone. Neither source looked suitable for bathing or drinking, but you can still cross yourself in St Einion’s holy waters if you make contact with the owner. It was presumably a baptismal well, sitting as it does on the boundary of the church grounds.

Pilgrimage to this village has always been focused on the church itself and the shrine of St Einion. If you gain access to the church (I didn’t), make sure you see the medieval rood screen. Llanengan has one of the most complete surviving examples in the UK – an elaborate wooden structure separating chancel from nave.

Directions

St Engan’s Church, Llanengan, near Abersoch LL53 7LG

W3W: bulbs.tiny.invite

GPS: 52.8141N 4.5342W

A key is now held at the Sun Inn for visitors to the church. To see the holy well, from the west end of the church, where the tower stands, walk to the far end wall of the cemetery. Look across the wall to your right and there is an embankment covered in bracken, a flattened barbed wire fence along the top when I looked. The well is behind there, though permission is needed from the house owner to actually visit it.