I saw a photo of St Govans Chapel in Bosherton, Pembrokeshire, Wales, on Facebook and immediately decided to visit it.
About St Govans Chapel.
St Govan’s Chapel is shrouded in myths and legends. It was famed for its healing powers and draws hundreds of visitors annually. The Chapel is wedged in the limestone rocks between the sea and the cliff top on the southernmost tip of Pembrokeshire.
St Govans Chapel is one of many Churches in Wales founded on a magical site by a 5th or 6th-century Saint. It is dedicated to St Govan, an Irish monk from Wexford. Legend has it that he was being chased by pirates when a fissure opened in the cliff face, allowing him to slip inside, it then closed up behind him. When the marauders had gone, he emerged and founded a Chapel on the spot. St Govan died in 586 AD and has been linked with Gwalchmai fab Gwyar, the Mabinogion tales of Pwyll and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, of Arthurian legend.
The Chapel is made of local limestone, with a vaulted roof and the simplest interior. Inside is a bare stone altar, much older than the stone walls, with low benches and a ‘piscina’ in the wall. This is where the priest would wash his hands and beneath this flows a spring. The tiny cave was St Govan’s original hermit cell.
I haven't been back to Wales for a few years, but I will make a point of going to St Govan's Chapel on my next visit.