St Cynhafal's Church

The Church of St Cynhafal stands in an isolated position to the east of the scattered village of Llangynhafal, five miles south-east of Denbigh. It is dedicated to Saint Cynhafal, a 7th-century monk, and is the only such dedication in Britain. Cadw suggests that the dedication references the site of a monastic cell. The current church dates from the 15th century. In the late 18th century the adjacent house, Plas-yn-llan, was the rectory and the Rev. Robert Jones (1769–1835) was born there. He was a close friend of William Wordsworth, who stayed at Plas-yn-llan during the summer of 1791 and again in August and September 1793. The church was restored in the mid-19th century at a cost of £1400.

The church is built to a double-nave plan, with a south porch and a bellcote. The architectural historian Edward Hubbard, in his 2003 Clwyd volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales, notes that the church was whitewashed in the 19th century and rendered in the 20th. The building materials are limestone and Welsh slate for the roof. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) records the carved reredos, with an effigy of a pelican. Hubbard notes the traditional 17th century dating for this, but suggests a possible later date. St Cynhafal's is a Grade I listed building.