Ysbyty Cynfyn

Also known as:
Ysbytty Cynfyn
Nearest town:
Aberystwyth (18km W)
OS reference:
SN753792
OS sheets:
135, 147
Latitude:
52° 23' 46.13 N
Longitude:
3° 49' 58.52 W

Images

Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by thesweetcheat

Approaching on the lane from Parson’s Bridge.

Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2023)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jul 7, 2024
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by postman

The tallest stone is behind, and the quartz covered gate posts that Cope (for some reason)mentions behind that

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Jan 31, 2008
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Moth

Gate from outside – the gateposts are more visible on Kammer’s shot from the inside, but here you can see the tops of them plus one in the wall....

Image credit: Tim Clark
Moth
Moth Sep 2, 2003
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Moth

Stones in wall – interesting even if not in original positions etc

Image credit: Tim Clark
Moth
Moth Sep 2, 2003
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Moth

Miserable looking me for scale – unfortunately tree hides top of stone but not top of me.....

Image credit: Tim Clark
Moth
Moth Sep 2, 2003
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Kammer

Taken 15th February 2003: This is one of the two smaller stones set into the east side of the churchyard wall (the furthest north if you count the gateposts). The photo shows the foot of the stone, where you can see masonry (apparantly) running underneath it.

This illustrates the argument that the stones aren’t all in their original positions, possibly ruling out the suggestion that the site is a stone circle.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Feb 25, 2003
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Kammer

Taken 15th February 2003: This is the largest stone in the churchyard wall, and the least contentious of the lot. Most people agree that this is a prehistoric stones, but there’s debate as to whether it’s a standing single stone (the others being later additions to the wall) or part of a stone circle.

This photo is taken looking approximately east from inside the churchyard. The full height of the stone isn’t evident from this side of the wall.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Feb 25, 2003
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Kammer

Taken 15th February 2003: This is the largest stone in the churchyard wall, viewed from outside the churchyard where the public footpath runs off towards Parson’s Bridge. From this angle (looking approximately east) you can just about see how large the stone is. By local standards it’s enormous!

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Feb 25, 2003
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Kammer

Taken 16th June 2002: Looking out of the churchyard, through the megalithic gateposts. Just about everyone agrees that these two stones have been moved from their original location.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Sep 11, 2002
Image of Ysbyty Cynfyn (Christianised Site) by Kammer

Taken on 16th June 2002 at the end of an amazing walk from the village of Ystumtuen, over the Rheidol gorge to Ysbytty Cynfyn.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jul 3, 2002

Articles

Is this church built within a so-called 'druidical circle'?

In this video we cover the history and archaeology of Ysbyty Cynfyn. Why is this church built within a so-called ‘druidical circle’?

CoralJackz
CoralJackz Nov 21, 2024

Ysbyty Cynfyn

C
CARL Mar 9, 2010

Visited on 14.2.10. A really lovely site. Beautiful contryside with a lovely old grave yard inside a stone circle – what more could you want? Very easy to find and access – right next to the roadside (A4120)

Ysbyty Cynfyn

postman
postman Jan 31, 2008

The last time I came here it was high summer with T-shirts, so seeing as I was in the vicinity I thought I’d pop in. The best thing about a winter visit is the big stone is not covered by the tree next to it. The big stone is almost half buried inside the church yard and its true size is only apparent on the outside. If this was a stone circle and I believe it was, then the Christianizers didn’t do a good job (see Grey Yauds stone circle – you cant ‘cause it’s completely gone).

Ysbyty Cynfyn

Kammer
Kammer Jul 3, 2002

If you visit Ysbytty Cynfyn, you’ll probably approach from the direction of the A4120, the road between Ponterwyd and Pontarfynach (Devil’s Bridge). This is the obvious way to get there, but if you’ve got some time on your hands, and you’re happy walking a few miles, try approaching from the west. This route gives you a real sense of pilgrimage, taking you past Dolgamfa and across the Rheidol gorge before reaching Ysbytty Cynfyn. The footpath is very well sign-posted (as Ceredigion footpaths go) but a map would be useful.

Starting from the village of Ystumtuen, follow the footpath north-east, past some old mine shafts and a small disused mining reservoir. The path continues through a distinctive saddle shape in the hillside. From the top you can see the bell tower of the church at Ysbytty Cynfyn. As well as being good geographical feature for navigating on foot the pass may have had symbolic significance to the people who built Ysbytty Cynfyn and Dolgamfa.

From here you head down-hill before reaching Dolgamfa, which sits on a small plateau about half way down the hill. There are good views across the Rheidol valley from here. Between Dolgamfa and Ysbytty Cynfyn is the river gorge, which is hidden from view by the ancient oak forest.

Heading downhill from Dolgamfa you pass a farmstead and enter the forest (the trickiest terrain on the walk). At the bottom of the slope is the gorge (very impressive in the winter) and the crossing point, Parson’s Bridge. The bridge (originally not much more than a log) is traditionally associated with a priest who worked between Ystumtuen and Ysbytty Cynfyn. I suspect that this crossing point dates back a lot further than this, possibly connecting the two megalithic sites when they were in use.

From Parson’s Bridge it’s an uphill climb to get out of the gorge, and the forest. The path goes up a small hill before dropping down to Ysbytty Cynfyn itself.

Folklore

Ysbyty Cynfyn
Christianised Site
Kammer
Kammer Apr 25, 2004

In his book A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany (ISBN: 0-300-06331-8) Aubrey Burl writes (citing Briggs as his source),

It may be no more than coincidence that the church [Ysbytty Cynfyn] is only 1 and a half miles north Devil’s Bridge over the River Mynach where the Devil was tricked by an old woman who saved her soul by sending her little dog to cross the bridge before her.

I’m inclined to think that it is no more than coincidence, as the connection between Bronze Age Ysbytty Cynfyn and Devil’s Bridge (Pontarfynach) is a bit tenuous. Cope makes a similar connection between the two places, but it’s not clear why.

Miscellaneous

Ysbyty Cynfyn
Christianised Site
Kammer
Kammer Jul 5, 2002
comment 1 comment

If you’re not a Welsh speaker it can be a bit tricky pronouncing some of the place names in this area, so at the risk of offending the purists, I thought I’d have a go at giving an indication of how the names are supposed to sound:

Ysbyty Cynfyn: This is something very close to ‘us-but-ee kunvin’.

Ponterwyd: This is approximately ‘pont-er-wid’.

Pontarfynach: This village is called Devil’s Bridge in English, but it’s real name is pronounced ‘pont-ar-vun-ach’. The ‘ch’ at the end of the name has no equivalent pronunciation in English, but it’s similar to the sound at the end of the Scottish word ‘loch’. It’s not pronounced like the ‘ch’ in the word ‘chicken’!

Ystumtuen: This is pronounced ‘us-tim-tee-en’.

Dolgamfa: This is pronounced ‘doll-gam-va’.

comment 1 Comment

Topics

Parking, Waterfall & Spelling - FAO Kammer ... 8
ShropshireTraveller
ShropshireTraveller
Sep 2005
Moth i Cymru 7
Kammer
Kammer
Sep 2003

Sites within 20km of Ysbyty Cynfyn

Like all websites everywhere, we use cookies.