St Brynach's Church (Nevern)

St Brynach's church is located in the beautiful Afon Nevern Valley near to the north coast. The original chapel in Nevern was built by St Brynach as early as 540 AD.

St Brynach was born in Ireland, and after travelling extensively, he settled in Pembrokeshire, becoming friends with St David. He was given land in Nevern by local chieftain named Clether who had a hillfort on the peaks of Carn Ingli, which means 'places of angels', where St Brynach would converse with angels.

Little remains of the original chapel apart from numerous carved and engraved stones both inside and outside church, including Vitialanus' stone which can be found near the porch and Maglocunus' stone which is set into the window sill in the nave. Both stones have bilingual inscriptions in Latin and 5th century Irish Ogham script.

In the churchyard is the great cross which is one of the finest examples of its kind in Wales. Almost 13 feet high, it was carved in the 10th Century with intricate knotwork. There is an interesting tale associated with the cross. Every year after the long harsh winters, the villagers of Nevern would wait for their 'harbinger of spring'. On the 7th April (St Brynach's feast day) they would gather near the cross to await an extraordinary event. On that day each year, the first cuckoo of the year would arrive from Africa, landing on the cross and singing to announce that spring has arrived.

Another interesting feature of Nevern churchyard is the ancient yew trees which border the path leading up to the church. One of the twisted old trees has a dark red resin that drips from an old wound on the trunk. It looks very much like blood, and the tree is known as the bleeding yew. One legend claims that a monk was hung from the branches for a crime that he did not commit and in his final moment, he proclaimed that the tree would bleed for ver, to confirm his innocence.