Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

The second part concentrates on the pilgrimage centres of Wales. It begins by describing how, prior to the Norman invasions, the places and the festivals associated with the early saints were revered and celebrated with an emphasis upon the possessions of the saint in life rather than his relics after death, upon his local associations and patronal festivals. The persistence of these cults shows how little lasting influence the conquest had upon the medieval church in Wales. Four shrines seminal to the Welsh concept of pilgrimage in medieval times are studied in detail, St Winifrid's at Holywell, Ynys Enlli Bardsey Penrhys and St David's, which, after 1123 became an authorised and acknowledged focus for the devotions of kings and commoners until the Reformation. Every attempt then and subsequently to stamp out the old superstitions and destroy them failed and, despite changing times and beliefs, visits to holy wells and shrines have continued to the present day. Part three follows the pilgrim roads of Wales and the detail sends the reader scurrying to find the relevant Ordnance Survey maps and follow the remnants of the old roads along which the medieval pilgrim tramped. Many of these were established tracks in prehistoric times and others were engineered by the Romans. The road from Holyhead to Ynys Enlli is traced along the coast, while there is a choice of ways from Holywell either to join up with the coastal route or travel through the mountain passes to Llanbadam Fawr and Cardigan and on to St Davids. From the east, the ancient way, known as the Portway leads through from the Welsh marches to Carmarthen, Whitland, Llawhaden, Wiston and on to St Davids a trail marked by tombs of pilgrims who pursued that journey and by place names indicating resting places, ysbytai, along the way. Pilgrims also came by sea, making their way to the shrines from landing places along the coast. Alongside the main theme of the book there are chapters on Holy wells, on the saints of the early church in Wales and their relics and on the tokens, ampulae, badges and necklaces acquired by pilgrims as mementos of their journeyings often to places great distances apart. There is a wealth of information and a great diversity of material referred to. The Reformation, which brought the church of the Middle Ages to an end in Britain, should have marked the end of pilgrimage to shrines in Wales