Llanfaglan is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, north-west

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It lay in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

cwmwd A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together", ...

of Is Gwyrfai. Llanfaglan is a medieval parish bordering with the parish of Llanbeblig,

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

, on the shore of the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

and Traeth y Foryd. It is in the modern

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Bontnewydd. The church in Llanfaglan, St Baglan's (

Grid reference A projected coordinate systemalso called a projected coordinate reference system, planar coordinate system, or grid reference systemis a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on Earth using Cartesian coordinate system, Car ...

) stands alone in the middle of a field and is now owned by the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches (FoFC) is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As ...

. In 2005, it was discovered that the church and the older part of the cemetery were part of a pentagonal enclosure. The period of this enclosure is not known as it is the only one of this type known of in Europe up to now. A 5th or 6th Century gravestone inscribed with Fili Lovernii Anatemori, has been reused as a lintel over the door. This was the gravestone of Anatemarios, mab Loverniws. Although the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

church probably dates from the 13th century, additions date from the 17th century as do the internal fittings. The church remains consecrated and is still in occasional use. Hen Eglwys Llanfaglan a storm yn bygwth

Anatemori Fili Lovernii

This notes the burial place of Lovernii the son of Anatemori. These are Brythonic names in a Latin inscription, not Latin names as claimed by some. the only Latin word here is Fili. This stone dates from roughly the end of the 5th to early 6th century. Loverniws is a personal name, in Cornish Lowern and in Breton, Louarn, (still in use today as a personal name). The

Modern Welsh The history of the Welsh language () spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Origins Welsh evolved from British (Common Brittonic), the Celtic languag ...

name is Llwynog (meaning

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

). Whoever Lonerniws was, he was someone of status in society, as he was named after an animal. We see this with the first nations people of North America. His father's name Anatemarios means Enaid and Mawr giving the name Enaidfawr. This is the influence of Latin because of the Roman settlement at Segontium nearby, where we see the Brythonic language being corrupted by Latin, Brythonic is the British language from which Welsh, Cornish and Breton has evolved from today.

Ffynnon Faglan

Next to the church in an open field once stood a

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

known as ''Ffynnon Faglan'' or Baglan's Well (B mutates to F). Llanfaglan was said to be the holy place of St. Baglan yg Coet Alun and the erection of the well was attributed to him. The water in the well was said to have healing powers. The afflicted area would be bathed and then into the well would be dropped a pin. The well was used also for the cure of

wart Warts are non-cancerous viral growths usually occurring on the hands and feet but which can also affect other locations, such as the genitals or face. One or many warts may appear. They are distinguished from cancerous tumors as they are caus ...

s. The wart would be washed, pricked with a pin and the pin then thrown into the well. The well was subsequently dredged in the nineteenth century (two basins of bent pins were recovered) and no longer exists, as it was completely removed around 2011.

Maen Bedydd Baglan

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is carved into the rock within a few yards of the site of the well. An article relating to this stone can be seen in the book Cam Arall i'r Gorffennol by Rhys Mwyn a renowned Archeologist in Wales () published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.

External links

Its CISP database entry
* ttp://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/cfwm/cf200.htm Folklore of Welsh wells (including a discussion on Baglan's Well)br>www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanfaglan and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Bontnewydd, Gwynedd