St Afan's Church

The original church on the site is credited to Saint Afan in the 6th century. Gerald of Wales, the 12th century clergyman and historian, told a tale of "what happened, in the reign of Henry I, King of the English, to the castellan of Radnor castle, in the territory of Builth, which is not far away, being adjacent to his own lands, which he himself had conquered". This man and his dogs spent a night in the church of Saint Afan. They had been hunting near Builth. At first light the knight awoke to find that all his dogs had gone mad and he himself was completely blind. The blind knight joined the crusade and went to Jerusalem where he was led into battle and died an honourable death. During…