St Non's Chapel The Chapel of St Non is located on the coast near

St David's St Davids or St David's (, , "Saint David, David's Welsh toponymy, house”) is a St David's Cathedral, cathedral City status in the United Kingdom, city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun, Pembrokeshire, River Alun and is ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

West Wales West Wales () is a region of Wales. It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...

. Held by tradition to mark the birthplace of

St David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...

, the ruin cannot be accurately dated but is unusual in that it is aligned north–south rather than the usual east–west. Near to the ruined chapel is a retreat, a modern chapel and a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

. The site was protected in the 1950s and is now the responsibility of the Welsh Heritage organisation

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

History

The ruined Chapel of St. Non is close to the

Pembrokeshire Coast Path The Pembrokeshire Coast Path (), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total ...

a few miles from the city of St David's. According to

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 ...

tradition, Saint Non (also known as Nonna or Nonnita) was born around AD 475 and was a daughter of Lord Cynyr Ceinfarfog who lived as a nun at Ty Gwyn near Whitesands Bay until she was raped by Prince Sant of

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

. She gave birth at Caerfai to a boy, who became the patron saint of

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 ...

, St David. The ruin is thought to be on the site of St Non's house and to be one of the oldest Christian buildings in Wales. In medieval times the chapel was one of the main sites visited by Christian pilgrims. Following the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, pilgrimages stopped and the chapel was converted into a house before being used as a garden. The

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

site was taken over by the Welsh Heritage organisation

in the 1950s.

St Non's Cross

A large stone standing in the corner of the ruined chapel, inscribed with a cross within a circle, is known as St Non's Cross. The stone was found in the same field as the chapel and is either a grave or an altar stone. The stone is dateable to the 7th to 9th century, but there is no firm evidence that it originally came from the site.

Standing stones

In the chapel field there are a number of

standing stones A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

which may be evidence of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement. It is possible that the chapel was built within an original

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

circle of standing stones.

Holy well

left, Shrine at St Non's Chapel A

close to the chapel () was thought to have healing properties, and to this day visitors throw coins into the well for luck. Records of a survey of St. David's by Browne Willis in 1717 state that "there is a fine Well beside it t. Non's Chapel cover'd with a Stone-Roof, and enclos'd within a Wall, with Benches to sit upon round the Well. Some old simple People go still to visit this Saint at some particular Times, especially upon St. Nun's Day (March 2nd) which they kept holy, and offer Pins, Pebbles, Etc at this well", and reports from 1811 state that "the fame this consecrated spring has obtained is incredible and it is still resorted to for many complaints". It was thought to be particularly effective for eye problems and was restored in 1951 by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, which also erected a shrine using stones from nearby ruins. The vaulting over the well replaced ruins of medieval stonework in the 18th century. Water from the well was used by

Pope Benedict Benedict has been the papal name of fifteen Roman Catholic popes. The name is derived from the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally ...

during his visit to Britain.

Modern chapel

A modern chapel () was built near the ruin in 1934 by Cecil Morgan-Griffiths, a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

from

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

, using stone from ruined local chapels. He had built a house (now used as a retreat) overlooking the sea, and the nearest

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was over sixteen miles away, so he decided to build one on the historic site. The new chapel is the most westerly in Wales and is also one of the smallest, as it is only 25 feet long by 12 feet wide. It has

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows representing St Non, St David, St Bride, St Brynach and St Winifred. The stoup at the door is all that remains of the Chapel of the Fathoms, and the altar uses a white stone from the altar of St Patrick's Chapel. The window over the altar is in the school of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

. Cecil Morgan-Griffiths died the year after the new chapel was completed.

Retreat

Behind the modern chapel is St Non's Retreat (). It was owned by the

Passionist The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on a ...

Fathers (a

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

founded by Saint

Paul of the Cross Paul of the Cross, CP (; born Paolo Francesco Danei; 3 January 1694 – 18 October 1775) was an Italian Catholic Church, Catholic mystic, and founder of the Passionists. Biography Paul of the Cross, originally named Paolo Francesco Danei, was b ...

)Catholic Encyclopedia Article
/ref> and run as a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

. It offered a place of sanctuary and reflection, as well as workshops and sessions ranging from

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

to support for bereaved parents. It is owned by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia The Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia (; ) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church which covers south Wales and the county of Herefordshire in England. The Metropolitan Province of Cardiff covers all of Wales and parts of England. Its one suf ...

and is run as a retreat. In early 2024 it underwent extensive refurbishment in preparation for its opening in April 2024.

References

External links

St Non's Chapel stone

St Non's standing stone

Picture of the Chapel of St Non

St Non's Retreat website
{{Coord, 51.8722, -5.2688, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Sisters of Mercy Chapels in Pembrokeshire Holy wells in Wales Ruins in Wales Tourist attractions in Pembrokeshire Grade II listed churches in Pembrokeshire