Egypt4u

My next write up is about a small church that I found nestled into the sand dunes and only a stones throw from the beach. The beach itself is very rocky strewn with huge water worn boulders that bear witness to the strong gales that must have battered this part of the coast and probably still do from time to time.


The church is called St Tanwgs and would again be pronounced as "Tan-ugs", this saint would be placed in about the 5th century, about the time that the Roman Empire in Western Europe was disintegrating. It may have been a part of St Patrick’s communications system between Ireland and Briton after he was sent there as a Bishop around 432 AD. A few ancient gravestones seem to indicate that Llandanwg and Fishguard may have been key entry points for Irish missionaries sent over by St Patrick. It was probably the best anchorage in North Wales at the time and many Bronze age, Celtic and Roman roads connected it to the river Dee and river Severn valleys and would have bypassed the Snowdonian mountain range, a big obstacle in those days.

The church itself can probably lay claim to be one of (if not the) oldest Christian church in Britain with many previous smaller churches occupying the site with continuous habitation throughout its long history. The present version was started in the Middle Ages and extended in the 14th Century, a few old doorways and windows have either been blocked off or added on as required in the day, it has also had several roofs made from timber, thatch and today’s slate. At one time the walls looked to have been painted, but this is largely gone and a later plastering and whitewashing of the walls have removed much of what was once there. In 1839 a new church was built at Harlech only a short distance away and it appears to have fallen into decline and only used for burials, by 1888 the roof had fallen in and taken the medieval gallery with it and the place was full of sand and briars growing over it with fishermen using the alter rails to dry their nets on, the last burial there is recorded as being in 1910.

As you approach the church set in the sand dunes with the sea just behind


Passing through the lych gate and the alter end of the church with graves


A narrow path leads from the lych gate around the church with old upright gravestones holding back the encroaching sand. One of them had a barely visible date of 1699 on it.


It was not until 1987 that the renovation work was completed by local parishioners at a cost of £20,000 with work to protect the churchyard and the church from the sea are still ongoing.
These images taken inside the very narrow church show what it looks like today, the picture quality of all these images is poor as they were taken on my phone and shooting into direct sunlight (well thats my excuse anyway )




Some other interesting features outside such as this old doorway and a well eroded mullion carving



One interesting fact is that a local parishioner of this small church was ‘Sir Dafydd ap Leuan’ a Knight, who was responsible for sheltering the young Prince Henry (later to be Henry the VII and founder of the Tudor dynasty) in nearby Harlech Castle and he held out against a seven years siege by the full might of the English army. He is actually the real inspiration for the song ‘Men of Harlech’ which many will know as a really rousing song which also featured in the film ‘Zulu’. There are many versions of the words to this tune, but as I know that Kiya loves her Tudor history I have found a suitable version that seems to fit the appropriate time period, you can also see in one of the still shots in the video a view from the battlements of Harlech Castle and it shows how far away it now lies from the original shore line just below the castle.

All together now


More commonly the words sung to the same tune are as follows:

Men of Harlech, stop your dreaming
Can't you see their spearpoints gleaming
See their warrior pennants streaming
To this battle field

Men of Harlech stand ye steady
It can not be ever said ye
For the battle were not ready
Welshmen never yield

From the hills rebounding
Let this war cry sounding
Summon all at Cambria's call
The mighty foe surrounding

Men of Harlech on to glory
This will every be your story
Keep these burning words before ye
Welshmen will not yield

Views of present day Harlech Castle with pano view


That is your history lesson for today There are a lot more interesting facts about this tiny church and it would take me for ever to list them all, I am often inspired to write accounts of my visits to these little known places and I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of potted history and maybe even get to visit it yourselves one day.

Wow! another great right up from you Horus

Its amazing to find these little old quaint buildings & more so when finding the history around them, it is a shame to see these very old gravestones neglected, no wonder when to day they find odd skeletons here & there.

Thanks for the video, cant say I've ever heard of it or others.

As for the founder of the Tudor dynasty, I always give that credit to Henry V11' mother Margaret Beaufort, it was her that was determined to think & have the right to the throne through her son Henry, when in fact they were no where near to the direct line.

Thanks Kiya I thought you may like the Tudor connection. The Welsh like the Scots have a long history of opposing English rule or having an involvement in political wranglings and battles, I am English by the way

That is very interesting Horus and thanks for putting it all that together for us. When a church has survived for centuries my mind always wanders to imagine what changes have taken place in the locality over that time. For instance, not too far from the church I find the old workings of the Llanfair Slate Cave from which no doubt the church roof came. This must have been a source of local employment probably in the 19th and early 20th century. (Now a visitor attraction, I see)
I also wonder how the coastline has changed and where the church was originally situated relevant to the sea. We have a good example at Richborough where the remains of the Roman Richborough Fort are now about a mile from the sea and when constructed were near the coast at the mouth of the river Stour.
St Tanwgs church looks in good state of repair now thanks to the restoration work. I notice those large flagstones that form the floor inside and think of all the feet that have walked over them.
As for the Welsh language, I had a work colleague who was Welsh and she said simply say the words as they are written. Easier said than done but a good starting point I think.

Yes we tend to worry about coastal erosion, but forget that there are other places that get their estuaries silted up and create more land, Harlech Castle is a good example, once it stood on the coast with waves crashing against its rocky base, now it is half a mile from the sea.

Fascinating H! And what a quaint place to come upon.

You used a phrase - "mullion carving" What does that mean to you? (I tried to Google it but am not really getting a sense of it and, honestly, I've never heard that term before.

I suppose I technically used the wrong word LLL, a ‘mullion’ is the term for a solid bar or supports that divides up a window or a stone arch, as seen in stained glass windows. In this instance I used it incorrectly to describe a side part of the window frame and not the middle part, I should have called it a 'jamb'

@H - I'd never heard the term so Googled it but it didn't jive with what you'd said so I figured there to be a disconnect. Got I now

Still fascinating buildings. The strength and time of work to build those with the tools of the day - all the workers must of put in a solid days work back then but what they accomplished sure has withstood the test of time.