St Nicholas and St Teilo’s Church, holy well, Penally

The Welsh Cistercian Way visits Penally’s church, the route then running directly past its holy spring with its stone wellhouse

‍Highlights

• Birthplace of St Teilo
• Holy well of St Deiniol

Penally is thought to be the birthplace of St Teilo, the 6th-century bishop. He apparently had a holy well near the church, but my attempts to track it down came to nothing. There is another holy well a short walk from the church, dedicated to St Deiniol, founder of Bangor Cathedral.

St Teilo’s connection is at least remembered by the local church, which changed its dedication to St Nicholas and St Teilo in the 19th century. This was definitely an early Christian site: the church has a Celtic-style circular churchyard that contained two early medieval crosses. These have been moved inside the church and include an intact 10th-century round-headed cross covered with an interlace pattern and a vine.

St Deiniol’s Well is 150m uphill from the church, next to the Penally Abbey hotel and restaurant. The well is on the opposite side of the road from the hotel car park. It is a tall stone structure set into a garden wall. A short flight of steps leads down to a basin of water, which is difficult to reach.

There is also a ruined abbey building in the grounds of the hotel, visible from the well and from the hotel car park but otherwise inaccessible. An information panel near the parish church says this building’s origins ‘continue to perplex the experts’. Like the well, the former abbey was dedicated to St Deiniol. He is a saint from North Wales, so perhaps his presence this far south is part of the puzzle.

Directions‍

St Nicholas and St Teilo’s Church, Penally SA70 7PX

W3W: clerk.froth.fully

GPS: 51.6597N 4.7230W church

W3W: wept.website.alpha

GPS: 51.6611N 4.7239W well‍

Penally railway station 200m

The church is on the south side of Penally town, and was unlocked when I visited. Penally Abbey hotel is above the sloping green next to the church. Walk down the lane alongside it and the well is on the left after 100m, at the far end of a row of stone cottages. The abbey ruin is on the opposite side of the lane. Penally Abbey’s website is www.penally-abbey.com.