Llanfihangel Pontymoile-St Michael in the 'Circle of Heaven' Cilcoegan.

The Reverend Jennifer Mole showed me round the small but pretty Church of Llanfihangel Pontymoile this week. The second part of its name-the Bridge of Moile is easy to see, a llan is awhat it always was a Cambro- British Monastery and ‘Mihangel’ the name of the beloved and fierce defender of the Lord, St Michael. This was not its original name which was Cilgoegan. So who was this lost saint, who was despatched upon the arrival of the more powerful St Michael, which did not happen until Tudor times, after Henry VIII dispute with Rome and the founding and reorganising of his own church                              

St Michael was a popular dedication in Monmouthshire and often associated with mountains. J Darrell Evans , who wrote the guide book for the church writes' there were so many dedications for this defender of the heavenly hosts in this unstable borderland, they were each given another name to distinguish them'. The nearest village was Pontymoile, more than a mile away, and this name predominated by the seventeenth century.

It was all part of the manor of Cilgoegan, stretched between Cae Brest, the river and the Clarewaun brook and part of the lordship of Usk.

In the ‘Taxatio’ of Pope Nicholas in 1254 it appeared the church of Kilgoigen in his inventory of the churches in England and Wales. When the churches were taken by the king, in the sixteenth century they referred to Kylegoygane annexed to the parish of Panteg. This always seems to have been a small chapel and quite poor. Both Panteg (originally Llandeverguir? Given in the sixth century to St Cybi by the petty king Edlogan after the famous miracle) and Llanmyhangel are given in the charters as belonging for nearly five hundred years to the Priory of St Mary at Usk. Interestingly, neither church appears as having any  assets at all in Henry VIII officials of additions of the land and possessions, including trusts and offerings made by the faithful which he  took for himself.

       

The parish name seems to have appeared as Llanfihangel Pontymoile on the first published map of Monmouthshire by Christopher Saxon in 1577.By this time ‘llan’ had come to mean church, but it was not exactly this, as we know it was an early British monastary, and as its name suggests, this was perhaps originally a hermitage. (‘Cil’ is Welsh for Latin ‘Cella’ or cell-a hermit’s cell)so St Coegen may have originally been a hermit. However, extensive searches have not revealed such a saint, so Coegan may have simply been humble hermit, living in this little chapel in the grove. There is no doubt that the church was rebuilt in stone after the conquest and served the Christians living around it at a time when most people lived on the land and worked it. Yet the plague perhaps (1315-1317) caused many such small agrarian communities to be wiped out, and the churches attached to them never recovered their former numbers. This seems always to have been a small chapel in a grove, and  though dedicated to St Michael, it seems likely that the British term CEUGANT  suggested the dwelling, the realm of the Druid God, and may have been kept by the Christian hermit living there. Druidic lore was always an oral traditions, whose rites were not even written down until the seventeenth century. In the absence of any important founder, the cell of this hermitage probably existed on the site of an older  and deserted Druid grove and the name stuck for some time. In the  Priory at Usk ,it was simply called Llanmyhangel-obviously the name it was known by from its take over by the Benedictine nuns.

There is also a possible link to Coygan(!) from ceredigion, who was a leader at a hill fort there and it is always possible that this grove was the place where he spent lent away from the world in penance as so many of the saints of this period did. In the absence of any firm sources, however, this is speculation as I can find no other references and this practice of Lenten retreat was common at the time.

The rood loft was removed from the church after the Reformation, which would have contained a picture of the Doom and the great Crucifix, under which the Faithful would come to confess their sins to the priest sitting there in persona Christi.Nowadays if you approach the pulpit through the Vestry , there is a narrow door through which the person preaching has to approach. This was the door which originally led to the rood loft.

On the south wall of the Church is a very old memorial stone tablet (pictured above) with an inscription in 18th century lettering. ‘Here lieth ye body of Thomas Iones of Glascoed who departed this life in the 14th Day of September. Ano Dom 1713 .Aged 41 years’.


The Wakinshaw Windows are of later date and depict the Holy family in one panel and Christ reading the Scriptures(!) in the other. Walkinshaw funded the Free Press of MMonmouthshire newspaper and the windows are probably to remind people of the fact he was a newspaper man. There is another beautiful window in memory of his son Alexander James, who died at only nine years of age- something beautiful for what must have been a terrible family tragedy.
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The ceilings show much wear and tear and flaking plaster which is a shame. It is a very small country church with only `11 regular churchgoers who cannot afford the repairs. The church  has put out an appeal for help for the £8,000 it will take to deal with the roof and stop it collapsing.

 It is a Norman style barrel roof with small; gold rose bosses.the present ceiling comes from the eighteenth century. The whole structure remained intact when in 1924 the church roof slipped off, the crash giving rise to the rumour that an earthquake had happened.

Thefts and an appeal for the twenty first century. 

Sadly the church has to be kept locked because of the large number of artefacts which have been stolen. The vicar tells me lead has recently been stolen from the roof of Panteg Church as well and this little church of Heaven, needs £8,000 to repair the ancient roof with only 11 older parishioners. It is a Grade II listed building. There are only 420 people living in the parish.

Prayers please,  especially at this time. If this amount can be raised, there is a possibility it can be matched.

The Church in Wales website has details of this little church at Pontymoile which is attached to the Church at Panteg if you can help.

BACK TO SKENFRITH-THE WELLS, SKULDUGGERY AND A MARTYRDOM

The first few pictures are of The Priest's Well (RIP Father Ainsworth).The lower ones are of St Bridget's Well (Ffynon Santffraed) I have given the links to my previous posts about this fascinating church, originally a 'llan'-a Welsh monastic settlement and then a Norman Church, serving Skenfrith Castle. There is an account of a artyrdom of Father Ainsworth.

NOTE:

THE PRIEST'S WELL IS NOW IN PRIVATE GROUNDS AND PRIVATE PROPERTY AND MUST BE AGREED BY THE OWNER OF THE SAND HOUSE,SKENFRITH, MONMOUTHSHIRE BEFORE ANY VISIT.

My previous posts about Skenfrith Church in this wonderful, amazing village in Monmouthshire.Blogger will not let me publish links for some reason. The posts are as follows, you can either c +p or go to July 2008 in the list of archives on the Left hand side of the blog page, scrolling to the bottom of the Left hand layout pictures and access it from there.

http://maryinmonmouth.blogspot.com/2008/07/llansantffraed-ynysgynwraidd-st.html

http://maryinmonmouth.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-pictures-from-skenfrith.html







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The first two times I visited Skenfrith last year, I was unable to find the Well of St Bridget of Kildare (Sant Ffraed) nor the 'Priest's Well' and I arrived recently with OS map, compass and a pair of wellies.

I went to Skenfrith on Saturday and asked in the Bell Inn about the ‘Priest’s Well’ and St Ffraed’s Well. The very pleasant landlady was very helpful, knew of St Ffraed's but not of The Priests Well. Nevertheless an old map on the wall revealed ‘Darren Wood’and she mentioned someone in the ‘Shop’ who knew where it was. Only the old people remember it, it seems. When we went to St Ffraed’s well, I was very disappointed because it was very delapidated and desperately needs restoration. The well is on private land and so it seems if the owner does not restore it, there is nothing anyone can do-although of course it may be a question of money. By mistake we visited a nearby farm, where the farmer remembered it and pointed vaguely in the direction of the wood on the other side of the Monnow River.

So after visiting St Ffraed’s Well, we went to the Shop to get more information, as there were two ladies in there,neither of them knew where it was. There was an elderly person who DID know but was not there! When I mentioned 'Darren Wood', they said it was in new private ownership and we should have to ask the new owner.I was a bit afraid to go and ask as the 'Sand House' was now a mansion at the end of a long landscaped drive. I just hoped we were not going to be chased off with a gun and a lot of dogs! But we need not have worried, the new owner was only too happy to show me the well. The Priest's well was a bit of a legend now, it seemed. All she knew was in the days went priests could be executed at will and £5 retrieved from their head(!) some priest had been executed whilst hiding in the woods by the well.

I took the book about the priests well to show her and she showed it to me (the last three pictures above)It looked more of a spring than a well. I said I wanted to make a private pilgrimage, since I knew that Bishop Matthew , a former bishop and Vicar Apostolic of Western Britain had made many pilgrimages there in the 18th century. It looked exactly as in the book (‘The Folklore of Monmouthshire’-Roy Palmer)who had lived in Darren Wood. There must be evidence somewhere that Bishop Matthew visited there. I prayed a rosary there for the priest. I had tried to find out, however, I had a lucky breakthrough when I consulted ‘The River Running By’ by Joan Fleming Yates.(Amazon £20)This gives a great deal of history of recusant times.

Anyway Joan Fleming Yates has an account of the Herefordshire Catholic Revolt of 1605 (the year of the Gunpowder Plot). It started in the Village of Allensmore (five miles SW of Hereford). Alice Wellington the recusant wife of Thomas W. a yeoman farmer died excommunicate and refused burial by the Vicar. The Catholic Community became very angry and early in the morning of Tuesday 21st May 1605 Alice was buried by torchlight in the graveyard with the full rites of the church, candles and bells. The vicar went to the Anglican bishop and gave the names of all the people he had recognised in the burial party. 25 names were given including James Coles from Hungerstone known to act as massing clerk to Roger Cadwallader, a Priest(who was martyred at Hereford in 1610). Also there was Philip Giles, who ‘bare the crosse’.

Three days later, the High Constable of Hereford turned up with a warrant. They arrested two weavers at Hungerstone. Coles grabbed a knife and wounded both constables and Chandos escaped. Leonard March joined in the struggle and then his brother urged the constables to wait until they had spoken to William Morgan (another secret sympathiser) but they refused and suddenly 40 or 50 rioters, armed with staves,bows and arrows and swords surrounded the officers and demanded to be told where the prisoner was being taken. Outnumbered, the prisoner was released, warning the men of the consequences of their rebellion. He went on to the bishop who relayed it all to the Privy Council in London, who tried to deal with it with firm repression. The King made it plain there was no further any need to hold back on recusants, but the PrivyCouncil urged moderation, as they were frightened of further armed riots in a very unstable times, and one rebellion could have sparked another.The idea was to arrest the rebel leaders. By the end of June, the Bishop Bennet had decided to arrest William Morgan of Whitefield in Treville Park.

At Midnight on the 5th June 1605, the bishop’s party arrived and with them various local gentry who had close links to Catholics as they were married to them and a moderate Catholic Sir James Scudamore, who was known to be a papist but acted with discretion.

There were 60-100 men all ready to fight for the faith, and armed to the teeth.An attack on the Bishop’s Party was not planned , but they were going to wait for William Morgan to be arrested and then rescue him. The ambush had been ready. Reinfircements were expected from Catholics in the Monnow Valley, The Leader was Thomas Pritchard of Skenfrith.The magistrates arrived and took away many incriminating letters written by Morgan himself. Morgan was arrested and sent to London. For some unexplained reason the ambush was called off. Most of the men in the ambush party went into hiding. So they escaped –where?

Well they went to Monmouthshire. Anglican Bishop Bennet reported Monmouthshire‘hath always been counted a true daughter of Rome’. Monmouthshire was out of his and the Justices' jurisdiction!

Sunday, following the fiasco , three hundred people had gathered for Mass at Darren 'Chapel' , still carrying weapons.Was Darren Chapel, originally a room in the farmhouse, called the 'Sand House'. Expecting trouble, they hung on for Monday and Tuesday. Among them were William Hugh of Monmouthshire and William Vaughan of Llanrothal The bishop was worried as if he went with too few people, they would be attacked and with too many and the men would flee into the woods and they would not gather them all until the Assizes were over.

Wednesday June 19th 1605 the Justices made their biggest effort yet. The Justices searched all the cottages over the Darren and villages adjoining, house by house, all day and all night , making a thirty mile sweep along the Monmouthshire border. They found altars and various other Catholic artefacts but hardly a living soul, except for an old woman or an old man. The houses were deserted . The villages were deserted. The entire population had fled downward and westward into the comparative safety of Monmouthshire.

Only one person did not escape, said the bishop. The elderly priest of Darren Chapel. According to Bishop Bennet’s records he did not escape. The Catholic Priest Father Ainsworth was the priest. The strong tradition in this area, is that he was caught by a spring in the woods , where he was beheaded on the spot, according to the law, which paid £5 for the head of every Catholic Priest found in England after 1589 after the Day of John the Baptist.(June 24)

The stonework in the well is coloured red, and when the vegetation has died back in the winter you can see more of the stone and then it appears very red indeed. Romantic legends began to grow that this was Father Ainsworth’s life’s blood infused into the stone and in recent memory the people filled their bottles of holy water at the well (reputed to heal diseases) and prayed at the martyrum, where he was probably buried as well. Now it lies close to ‘The Sand House’ which is on the Darren side of the Monnow (northern)

To finish the story, the Justices returned to Hereford with no results and a report reached the king on June 23rd that the Bishop of Hereford had to flee ofr his life. The Privy council were undecided and blamed the justices’ incompetence. Eventually the Earl of Worcester was sent to cool the situation. He was a personal favourite of the King and a Catholic himself. His seat was Raglan Castle . He was an interesting character and natural overlord of the area. He was to talk to the leaders and cool down the situation. He was married to Elizabeth Herbert and gained many lands in Wales. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. So he arrived at Raglan Castle on June 29 1605 and this was the beginning of the end of the rebellion. Most priests and others who would suffer serious punishment were quietly spirited away and put out of reach by the Earl who warned them after he had requested them to meet him. He had a few ruffians put in prison to satisfy the Justices and show he had done something. The rebellion in the Monnow Valley was over. Raglan Castle hid priests and had priest holes. Several rich and influential Catholic families in North Mon had moved there because the remote nature of the area meant they could practice their faith in relative safety and obscurity.

Nevertheless I have the date for Father Ainsworth. He may have been a secular priest ,or an religious chaplain of the Hospitallers Order at Garway, who was perhaps too elderly or sick to flee and had stayed on after the reformation to tend to the parishioners at the Darren Chapel, and in other secret places.

IT had to be said that the burial of Catholics was one of the most upsetting of aspects of the terrible times of persecution. In Monmouthshire, the landowners were almost all Catholics, as were the justices and often the constables as well and since there was no concentrated 'push' to 'extinguish popery' until 1679 by over zealous priest hunters, anxious not to lose their lands, stolen from the church, and bribery and threats on Catholics to 'shop' their information about the College of St Francis Xavier in the Cwm farmhouses they were all comparatively safe. Because the Catholic families also owned the livings of the churches in Monmouthshire, they were able to appoint vicars sympathetic to the Catholic plight, who turned their backs on night time burials, washings of the corpses in holy wells and requiems in churchyards at Midnight. Many vicars were humane and compassionate and turned the other way.

I am returning to recusancy when we reach that far, but at present we are just in the Norman period and I will be continuing with the post on Goldcliff Benedictine Priory later this week.



More pictures: