Isolated in the cliffs of Pembrokeshire - St Govan's Chapel

It was a piercing cold but sunny day, the blue sky stretched far over the choppy Irish sea as me and the family stood over the high rugged grey cliffs of Pembrokeshire in South West Wales, seagulls danced in the blowing wind above our heads swishing from side to side watching them struggle to fly into the direction of the wind.

From the top of the staircase that leads down into the cliffs was a small tucked away roof and bell tower, it was of course St Govan's chapel, the chapel itself has stood on this very spot since the 13th century but the history stretches as far back as the 6th century when St Govan himself was here, making your way down the staircase it will be important to know at this point that the number of steps you count going down may be different to the number of steps you count on the way back up.

The steps lead you to a door that takes you into the small chapel, the dark damp conditions cuts you away from the cold wind outside, the walls are stained green from the algae that has built up over time, the dark grey walls are marked with scratchings such as a crucifix and a fish, the view from the one window shows the rocky beach below and the blue sea turning white as it engulfs the many little rock pools that lay below, inside the chapel you would notice a small alter, said to be the place where St Govan himself was buried, to the left of the alter is a small doorway that leads to a dead end which at first glance looks like nothing of interest, or so you may thing, for inside this room is a fissure (a crack in the cliff) which was the actual spot where St Govan hid away from the Irish pirates of the 6th century, there is a saying in Welsh mythology that if you are able to turn your whole body around inside the fissure then you are granted to make a wish.

There is a second door that takes you out of the chapel and down on the rocky beach, the rocks are a light grey and very smooth to touch from when the wind and water has shaped them over time, the steps carry on all the way down to the sea where you end up walking past a small well which no longer holds any water, it was once known as a holy well where cripples had traveled from miles around to come and drink from the water, all the way up until the 1950s crutches have been found dumped at the side of the well as if they had miraculously been cured.

Looking back up towards the chapel the sun shines it's golden rays against the grey wall, it is truly an incredible spot and certainly the last place you would think of building such a place, what makes St Govan so wonderful is not only the magical location which makes St Govan's chapel the most isolated chapel in Britain but the mixed up stories behind it where there is a constant tug between what is myth and what is legend.

The Chapel from the rocky beach

Mother in the fissure

My Sister in the fissure

Me near the fissure

The Altar and the doorway to fissure

The Story of St Govan and the chapel

One story says that St Govan was an Irish monk from County Wexford who had travelled to South Wales late in his life when he was an elderly man to seek the friend and family of the abbot who had trained him, this certain abbot has also been identified in various stories as St David himself, other sources belive that St Govan may have been Gawain who was one of King Arthur's knights of the Round Table.

Govan was set upon by Irish pirates, a few years after the Roman empire had fallen in Britain it meant that much of the west coast of the island was constantly attacked by the Irish pirates, the cliff opened up and left a fissure just big enough for him to hide in until the pirates left. In gratitude, St Govan decided to spend the rest of his life here at the cliffs, most probably to help warn the locals of the constant pirate attacks if they were to ever return.

St Govan lived in the caves which the chapel is now built on top off, they say if you are able to get into the cave you would find the hand prints of St Govan.

The small vaulted chapel that is seen today is made of local limestone and dates back to the 13th century. Originally St Govan caught fish and took water from two nearby springs, one which runs in the doorway of the chapel and the other that runs towards the bottom of the rocky beach which are now both dry,

There is also another story called 'The Bell Rock', St Govan was suppose to have a bell which he used to ring, but one day the pirates had taken the bell and angels were thought to have taken the bell off the pirates and encased it into a rock to be forever protected, the stone is said to be near the water's edge but I wasn't sure where I was looking on the day, another story goes that the pirate ship that the bell was taken on to had sunk and was forever lost to the sea.

St Govan Chapel is truly a magnificent place to visit, especially if you are interested in the the weird stories that behold such a strange place, walking down the steps to the chapel felt like I was walking back into time thinking about the people of the 13th century who would make their way here for their prayers or St Govan himself running down to hide from the villainous Irish pirates.