The Church of St Gwynno, Llanwynno, Mid Glamorgan
J.GWYN DAVIES, B.A.

Nestling in the lea of bleak, wind-swept Cefn Gwyngul between the Rhondda Fach and the Cynon Valley, the parish church of Llanwynno looks out upon the surrounding hills as if it were the apparent last outpost of civilisation, though the public house which stands no more than a score of yards away might claim this distinction for itself with equal vigour and possibly with more support. Yet, despite its isolated situation, Eglwyswynno possesses an interesting past, for the church was at one time the centre of one of the most important parishes in Glamorgan.
Eglwyswynno bears the name of Gwynno on two accounts: the church was both founded by him and dedicated in his name. There is considerable disagreement over the spelling of Gwynno's name. Some people prefer to spell it "Gwonno", others "Gwynno" and yet others "Gwono". "Gwynno is the name recorded on the oldest map of the parish, but the form "Gwonno" is fairly common.
Who was Gwynno? He remains a very obscure character indeed. It has been suggested that he entered Britain during the Roman occupation, but this is highly unlikely. Gwynno appears to have been the son of Cau, called Euryn y Coed aur. E.G.Bowen in the Settlements of the Celtic Saints in Wales tells how Gwyno came to found the church, which bears his name.
During the Yellow Plague of 547, the monks of the dead Illtud went for safety from West Wales to Brittany. Instead of returning to Pembrokeshire, they travelled east to Glamorgan to settle at Llantwit Major (Llanilltud Fawr in Welsh). It appears that Saint Illtud's monks were accompanied to Glamorgan by several of his disciples and associates, some of whom were Bretons, represented by St Canna at Llangan, St Crallo at Coychurch, St Isan at Llanishen, St Tyfodwg at Llandyfolwg, Ystradfodwg and Llantrisant, St Curig at Porthkerry, and St Gwynno at Llanwynno and Llantrisant. Gwynno, though not as famous as the other saints, nevertheless has a place among the great company of Saints who helped to bring Christianity to Wales.
The farmhouse at Daearwynno was not far from the church; indeed Gwynno may have lived there, and may have owned the land around it. It is significant that the nearest farmhouse to the church was always known as Daearwynno - Gwynno's land, But it is not clear whhether the land belonged to Gwynno the Saint, or whether it was a later acquisition of the church. There is no mention of Gwynno ever having performed miracles; no one knows of his work, or of the whereabouts of his grave, and not one of his writings has been preserved. Only Gwynno's name and Gwynno's church remain as a definite indication that he really did exist and as a monument to his work.
The following is an extract ( translated from the Latin) from the Bibliotheca Sanctorum V11 in the Vatican Library:
GWYNO, confessor, saint. The patron of Llanwonno, in Glamorganshire, Church attached to Llantrisant. There is said to be a sacred well Ffynnon Wyno. His feast day is celebrated on 26th October.
At the outset, the church was probably constructed either of timber or of daub and wattle, and it was not until comparatively modern times that the building took on the mantle of stone. Until 1894, the church resembled a barn from the outside, with an appendage containing the chancel, and a porch leading from the south wall (the last two features being incorporated in the present building). Inside, the pulpit was a three-decker and was situated on the north wall; the pews were interlocked and ran from east to west. In 1894 the church was "restored" in the Gothic style by Miss Olive Talbot of Margam. A belfry and a small porch on the west wall were added. George E.Halliday was the architect for this work, and the cost of the work was met from Miss Talbot's own purse. As a result of this work, much of the historical interest of the building has been destroyed, though the church now has a much more imposing appearance.
Inside the present building, however, there remain several features of historical interest. Affixed to the south wall of the nave near the south door, there is the upper portion of a rough pillar stone. It is 13 1/2 inches high, 8 1/2 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches thick. On it there is a crudely incised ring-cross with four incised dots in the interspaces and four smaller dots (one of which is fractured away) in the upper and lower spandrels. It dates from the period between the seventh and ninth centuries and is ranked among the early Christian monuments of Wales. There is an ancient looking font, but here authenticity is doubtful.
Inside the vestry there is aboard on which is written:
BENEFACTIONS TO THE POOR OF THE PARISH OF LLANWONNO IN THE COUNTY OF GLAMORGAN Edward Thomas of the Parish of Llanmihangel Llantarnam in the County of Monmouth, Gent, Left by Will dated Febry 20th, 1678, Five Pounds to be distributed the 21st day of Decer Yearly and for Ever by the Churchwardens and Overseers of Llanwonno and their Successors to ten poor persons from the Parish. Payable from Tir y Dduallt in the said Parish
This is a very interesting feature of the life of the parish and is now administered by the Vicar, Churchwardens and the former Cynon Valley Borough Council. "I remember," says Glanffrwd in his Hanes Plwyf Llanwynno, when there were not enough poor to take the money and it was necessary for the distributors to search the parish for people who would be kind enough to take the gift of ten shillings." This custom had close links with Eglwyswynno - the money was paid by the officers of the church, and the actual payments were made in the south porch of the church.

The church contains quite a number of tombs, most of which date from the eighteenth century. The timeworn gravestones provide a contrast with the more modern brass commemorative plaques to be found on the walls. Outside the church there is an extensive graveyard; the oldest gravestone is that of Christina, wife of James Pitt, who died in 1667, aged 42 years. Many of the gravestones remain remarkably legible, despite the considerable battering which they have received from the elements. Inscriptions on the gravestones are both English and Welsh, though in the graveyard itself Welsh predominates, whereas inside the church most of the gravestones bear English inscriptions. This is an interesting feature, which reflects the increasing Anglicisation of the "upper-class" of the parish, who would be buried inside the church. The graveyard of Llanwonno has inspired local poets of days gone by (excerpts from their poems to the graveyard may be found, for example, in Glanffrwd's work). The spirit of poetry certainly seems to steal around the cemetery, singing on the myriad graves. The sight of the graves, some upright, others leaning; yet others horizontal, marking the spot where the inhabitants of the parish have been buried for centuries, would inspire almost anyone. The graves provide almost as great a link with the past as does Eglwyswynno itself, with all its associations with the early Christian era in Wales.
In pre-Norman Wales there was no such thing as a parochial system. After the Norman Conquest, however, internal developments within the Welsh Church supported by influences from England and abroad led to the grouping of churches into parish churches and chapelries, and the parochial system as we know it began to emerge in Wales. In the Diocese of Llandaff there were Mother Churches, and these had out-stations, which were served by chaplains. Thus Llanwynno was the chapelry of the Church of Llantrisant, which in its turn was in all probability an out-station of the Mother Church at Llantwit Major.
The Commission of 1533 (Valor Ecclesiasticus) reveals that at that time the revenue of Llanwynno was £5. From the Tudor Period onwards, Llanwonno was a curacy under the Vicar of Llantrisant, who was the incumbent of the Parish. The major tithes went to Gloucester cathedral (the Dean and Chapter of which appointed the vicar of Llantrisant after the dissolution of the monasteries, which control previously being vested in Tewkesbury Abbey), whereas the minor tithes went to Llantrisant. Llanwynno possessed two tithe-barns, one in Old Ynysybwl (now taken down), and another at Abercyon. In the eighteenth century Llanwynno became independent of Llantrisant and became a parish in its own right, the incumbent being known as the "perpetual curate" or "vicar".
As is to be expected, many legends have grown up around the parish church. It has been claimed that Eglwyswynno was erected on a Roman catacomb containing not only the sacred remains of St Gwynno and his associates, but being also the last resting-place of "large numbers of the extensive Roman colony, which existed in the neighbourhood". To substantiate this, it is indeed fairly certain that the Romans did penetrate the Clydach Valley. Yet such a claim must be treated with caution, for very little evidence is available relating to this period, and so any proposals put forward must be of a very speculative nature.
There are two stories concerning the bell of the church; both seem to be based on the same happening, though their treatment of the event differs. One story relates how the people orf Llanfabon took a liking to Llanwynno's silver bell and one night a band of them stole it. The other story tells how the church bell, the communion plate, the linen altar cloth and the pulpit cushion were once stolen. In the first story the bell was dropped in the river Taff and never seen again, whereas in the second story the thieves were captured and the bell retrieved.
Various place names in the parish are connected with the second story;
Ffos-y-gloch The ditch of the bell Rhyd-y-gloch The ford of the bell Rhyd-y-car The ford of the sledge(on which the bell was carried and where the thieves were captured).
It is quite likely, however, that the story was invented to explain these place-names. Much doubt must be cast on the authenticity of these stories, interesting as they may be.
Many famous people have lived in the parish since Eglwyswynno was first erected. Unfortunately, however, their fame lasted only a short while after their deaths. In Llanwynno lived one of the fastest runners ever known (if legend be allowed to count for anything), Gruffydd Morgan (Guto Nyth Bran) who once out-ran and caught a hare, who could keep up with the hounds, and who won races against horses. His tragic death in 1737, as a result of being slapped on the back after winning a race, caused great grief in the parish, so much so that in 1866 a large tombstone was erected by public subscription as a new memorial on Guto's grave, and it can be seen just behind the wall of the south porch.

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