Church of St Hywyn

The origins of the church are as a clas settlement from the Dark Ages of the 5th to the 7th centuries. The clas was founded by St Hywyn, an early Welsh Saint originally from Brittany. The settlement rose in importance after 1190 when Bardsey Island, the "Island of 20,000 Saints", and St Davids in Pembrokeshire were declared places of pilgrimage by the Papacy. The writer Simon Jenkins notes that visits to both sites equated to a single pilgrimage to Rome. St Hywyn's expanded greatly to accommodate the very large numbers of pilgrims sailing to Bardsey Abbey, who were fed and watered in the Great Kitchen (Y Gegin Fawr) next to the church. The present building is first recorded in 1115 and…

The church comprises two naves, of equal length but of differing dates; the Northern is largely 12th century while the Southern dates from the 14th century. The building is constructed of rubble with slate roofs and a bellcote. The internal arcade is of the 15th century The church is a Grade I listed building, its listing recording the church as "one of the major churches of the Lleyn".