in the text. Melangell's legend states that she was a hermit in a remote valley to the
E of the Berwyns who one day saved a hare from hunters. This doesn't sound
like a particularly noteworthy event, but her shrine, at Pennant Melangell, became a favoured destination for medieval pilgrims. The site is on a bronze-age
site and is certainly old, as testified by the circular churchyard and the
ancient yews. In the 1990s it was revived as a shrine church, and a cancer
help centre added. A small retreat is also now available. See the church website for details, and see CPAT
for details of the various restorations.
Following the revival of the shrine, a pilgrims trail, the Pererindod Melangell, was created by the county council, starting from Pont Llogel where it connects with Glyndwr's Way. There is thus a waymarked walkers route all the way from Welshpool to Pennant Melangell. This goes to the former clas at Meifod, and also visits Llanwddyn where there was a preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller. It is however more of a scenic walk than a pilgrimage trail; quite apart from anything else, medieval pilgrims would not have started from Welshpool but from the monastery at Strata Marcella, a favourite gathering place for pilgrims. I therefore suggest an alternative from Welshpool to Meifod. Also included is a route via the 2 important clas churches at Llansilin and Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant; this links with the Shrewsbury-Holywell route by starting at Oswald's Well in Oswestry.
Welshpool to Pennant Melangell (55km)
1. waymarked route (18km)
The route of Glyndwr's Way has recently been changed and now heads W from
Welshpool (large medieval church - CPAT)
then N on a rather zigzag course to Meifod, though there are shortcuts you
can take.
2. alternative route (18km)
a) go NE to the site of Strata Marcella. Sadly, almost nothing remains of this formerly important Cistercian monastery except a few humps in a field.
Landranger maps do not even bother to mark it. It is however roughly where
Offa's Dyke Path leaves the canal, so is easy to reach from Welshpool by simply
following the canal towpath. Of interest to pilgrims is that a C16 printed
indulgence for those who visited the monastery, one of the earliest printed
documents, survives; there are copies in the National Library of Wales and
in the British Museum. (4km from Welshpool)
b) having found Strata Marcella, head W on paths to Guilsfield, where the
large medieval church (CPAT),
dedicated to the same Aelhaearn as on the Bardsey route in Llŷn, is set in
a circular churchyard with old yews; note the unusual 2-storey porch. At
Guilsfield too was a Trinity Well, where, on Trinity Sunday, even into the
C20, people would sit around the well, singing hymns and drinking the water
sweetened with brown sugar. (5km from Strata Marcella)
c) from here follow the lanes W to Meifod (9km)
continuation (37km)
Meifod is a little-known place today, but was formerly a major centre, as witness the large and splendid 3-naved church (CPAT)
and the truly enormous semi-circular churchyard, originally 5½ acres
in extent and more like the park for a country-house than a churchyard. There
was a relic of St Credifael in the church.
d) to Delanog the route follows the river but then makes a large detour to
the N which you can avoid by continuing along the river on the Ann Griffiths
Walk to Pont Llogel. From here you can take the Pererindod Melangell to Llanwddyn
but Glyndwr's Way is shorter. The old village of Llanwddyn, including the
church, is at the bottom of the reservoir, but the remnants of the preceptory,
labelled 'hospitium' on OS, can still be seen to the W of the modern
village; just S of the hospitium is Ffynnon y Myneich, 'monks well'. Ffynnon Ddogfan, for eye complaints, is on the other side of the reservoir. Note
that OS marks the hill to the W as 'Mynydd St John or Cefn Tre-ysbyty': 'Hospice
ridge'. Bizarrely, none of this is mentioned in the Pererindod guide. It's
possible the hospitium was used by pilgrims to Melangell; more likely is its position
on a direct line from Strata Marcella to Trawsfynydd church (founded by pilgrims
to Bardsey), Tomen-y-Mur and the southern coast of Llŷn. (22km by shortest route)
e) the Pererindod Melangell now heads over the moors to the shrine church.
According to the guide, on the way up it passes the ruins of a former pilgrims
shelter. 2km down the valley to the E is the village of Hirnant, where the
small church, dedicated to St Illog, is probably early-medieval in origin
(CPAT);
Ffynnon Illog to the N 'cured diverse diseases' according to Jones. (15km)
Oswestry to Pennant Melangell (55km)
a) from Oswald's Well (see Shrewsbury-Holywell route), follow lanes and paths W to the former clas church at Llansilin (CPAT - medieval remains, oval churchyard with ancient yews) (8km)
b) continue via paths and lanes to Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant (CPAT), where there are fragments of a Romanesque shrine in the church of St Dogfan. Ffynnon Eilian was nearby. (10km)
c) further paths and lanes W bring you to Llangynog, the parish church for Pennant Melangell; this
has a circular churchyard and an ancient yew, so is probably medieval even if nothing remains (CPAT). (8km)
d) from here, it is just a short distance along the lane to Melangell's shrine. (4km)
Pennant Melangell to Llandderfel (16km)
For many pilgrims, Pennant Melangell will not have been their final destination;
many will have carried on to Bardsey, and an obvious next stop for them would
have been Llandderfel, described on the Holywell-St Davids page. To reach this, simply take the track
N to the old turnpike road, now the B4391. On the bridleway to the E (N of the church) is Ffynnon Cwm Ewyn, a healing well. The B-road can lead you down to Llandderfel
but to avoid tarmac take the track down into Cwm Pennant towards Llandrillo, followed by the bridleway W from Pennant. (16km)