Welsh Journals

THE MONASTERY OF PEN RHYS. 257 the beautiful and celebrated bridge built by Edwards. The church of Ystrad Dyfodwg is said to have been founded by Dyfodwg,1 who was a saint of the college of Illtyd. The area of the parish is considerable ; but the population has until recently been small and widely scattered. When I visited Pen Rhys, about twenty years ago, some portions of the Monastery existed, though incor¬ porated with other modern erections, and difficult to identify. The present farmhouse of Pen Rhys has been erected on the site of the ancient Monastery, the mate¬ rials of which appear to have been largely employed in its construction. In particular, the barn, which stands in a field near the house, called to this day "Y Fyn- went", or the Churchyard, was formed, to a considerable extent, out of portions of the ancient monastic build¬ ings, one of the windows and parts of the old walls of which were at that period very discernible. But I then took no interest in antiquarian pursuits, and gave little heed to the interesting ruins which chance alone had brought before my observation. I now greatly deplore this neglect of my boyhood, for on recently visiting Pen Rhys I found that the few remains that were observ¬ able on my first visit had been swept away in the ruth¬ less process of repairing the farm-buildings, and no longer existed. The only object of interest that still remained was the holy well. This still stood uninjured, and continued to attract numerous believers in its miraculous waters and healing properties.2 It is, how¬ ever, simply a spring of pure water issuing copiously out of the grey sandstone of the coal-measures, known to geologists as the Pennant rock, and does not appear to contain any chemical property that would be likely to account for the possession of any healing virtue. We know, however, the curative influence of the imagina- 1 Ioh MSS., pp. 568-638. 2 The water of the spring is said to have performed many re¬ markable cures in cases of rheumatism, King's evil, and other affec¬ tions.