Around Llyn Safaddan 5 – Llangorse
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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One of a linked series visiting the churches around Llangorse Lake, this cache, in a small rectangular plastic container, is at the Church of St Paulinus, Llangorse. You need information from the previous caches in this series to determine the coordinates of this, the final cache in the series.
The Parish of Llyn Safaddan has six churches, scattered around Llangorse Lake, although only five of these are active places of worship and are used in this series. For anyone interested in visiting the sixth church, St Michael’s at Cathedine, this could be passed conveniently if finishing the circuit of the lake after completing the final cache of the series. The parish welcomes visitors to its churches, whether their interest is religious or secular, and the vicar and parish council have both approved and encouraged the placing of this series of caches. It is the aim of the parish to have its churches open during the day, but this depends on voluntary key holders so cannot be guaranteed. The whole set of caches could be tackled in a round trip of about 15 miles. Parking, though limited at some locations, is usually possible close to the churches: please park considerately. Take the opportunity, while in the area, to explore Llangorse Lake, the second largest natural lake in Wales and the site of a crannog. If you are feeling more energetic, a climb to the viewpoint at the summit of Allt yr Esgair is well rewarded.
Llangorse is derived from Llan yn y gors, the church in the marsh. At the beginning of the 5th century, it is believed that King Brychan established a court here and sent his children to be educated by St Gastyn, who may have been Constantius, son of the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus, or Macsen Wledig, who is sometimes regarded as the founder of the Welsh nation. An 8th century charter indicates that King Awst of Brycheiniog gave the parish to Bishop Euddogwy and also records that Awst gave his own and his sons bodies to the church for burial, so there could be a royal burial ground here. Another charter tells of a meeting at a monastery in Llangorse in 925 AD between King Tewdwr of Brycheiniog and Bishop Libiau and helps confirm that the crannog in the lake was a royal residence.
This fifth and final cache in the series is in the churchyard of St Paulinus’ Church, Llangorse. The first definite reference to a church building here is dated 1121. The font is from about 1300 and fragments have been found of Christian burial stones of even earlier date. Construction of the present church in the 15th century is indicated by the style of the south arcade, while the beautiful barrel roof in the south aisle is thought to be part of a slightly later enlargement. The doorway, windows and priest’s door in the south wall are early Tudor but the tracery of the south aisle, east and sanctuary windows date to about 1840. A restoration by Thomas Nicholson in 1874 left no trace of the old nave and chancel detail except the two 15C north wall windows. Amongst many other notable features are the ‘weeping sanctuary’, the mass dial on the south wall, the bells and the organ. The six bells, cast in 1721 by Evans of Chepstow, are chimed by means of an Ellacombe apparatus. The organ, made by Harris and Byfield in 1738 or possibly even earlier by Renatus Harris in 1723, is of great historical and musical importance.
The coordinates for this cache are N 51° 5W.UX4 W 003° 1Y.YW4, where the numbers corresponding to any of the letters A-W should have been obtained while finding the first four caches in the series and:
X = U – V
Y = W - V
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Lrj, nobhg guerr srrg nobir tebhaq yriry.