Church Micro 2644 ....Llangeinor Traditional Geocache
GizmoKyla: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
Church Micro 2644 ....Llangeinor
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Placed near Llangeinor Church
St Cein's Church
A church is believed to have been established by The Prince of Morganwg at Llangeinor as far back as the 6th century.
It is possible that the original church was made of timber and that it was replaced by a stone church built in the Norman style during the early part of the 12th century by the De Londres family of Ogmore Castle.
It is also believed that in 1141 Maurice de Londres gave the church to St Peter's Church at Gloucester in order that a convent of monks could be formed – this led to the foundation of Ewenny Priory.
In 1545, the priory and properties at Llangeinor were purchased by Sir Edward Carne.
It is thought that the present building was begun in the 15th century and that the tower was added in the 16th century.
The nave was altered in 1892 at which time the chancel was extended eastward to form a choir and sanctuary. At this time all the windows in the nave were rebuilt in a 15th century style.
The oldest trusses in the roof are the three middle ones in the nave.
The font is believed to be the original Norman Font of Sutton Stone.
The Chancel has two interesting features.
1. Two squints at different levels at either side of the chancel arch.
2. An access through the wall above the pulpit presumably to a food loft which may well have been lit from two small mullioned windows high up in the south elevation.
St Cein
Or Keyne, Cain, Cenau, Cenedion or Ceinwyr. She died in either 490 or 505 on 8th October. Born in Wales, daughter of King Brychan, she grew up to be very beautiful and she rejected the many men who sought her hand in marriage.
Eventually she became a nun. She sailed across to Cornwall and set up a cell where the village of St keyne in Cornwall now stands. Her holy well is about half a mile to the south of the village. Legend has it that the first of the newly –married couple to drink from the well will be master for life !
Keyne visited St Cadoc at St Michael's Mount in Cornwall and he told her to return to Wales, which she did. In 480 AD she settled beside a hillock in Crickhowell at a place now known as Llangenny. It was there that her prayers caused a holy spring to burst forth from the ground, and by it she founded a chapel. The chapel was demolished in 1790 but the well remains.
Other churches dedicated to her include Llangain ( Dyfed ), Rockfield ( Llangenon ) in Gwent as well as Runston Church ( now ruined ) also in Gwent. Keynsham in Somerset is seemingly not named after St Keyne but after a local Saxon Saint Kaegin or Caega.
The Graveyard
This is part of a conservation area in the care of Bridgend Council.
A plan can be found in the memorial book on the table at the entrance to the church.
Notable Features are :-
The grave of David Hopkins aged 23, who died in the Lluest Colliery explosion 18th august 1899 ( A large headstone with small railings by the outer wall due west of the tower )
One of the oldest graves is for Evan Thomas who dies in 1770 ( under the Yew tree due south of the tower )
Believed to be the oldest is for Llewellyn Felish who died in 1722 ( near the south east corner of the tower )
Also note that there are graves with iron rings wrapped around them, these rings were to prevent grave robbers from breaking into coffins and stealing the from the graves.
All information taken from " A Guide For Visitors "
For more information you can visit ST CEIN'S CHURCH, LLANGEINOR | Site Details | Coflein
The cache is a micro and is not in the church grounds. Please use stealth when retrieving the cache as the area can be busy at certain times. If anybody would like to expand to this series please contact sadexploration first so that he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication There is now a Church Micro statistics page which can be viewed via the bookmark list
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur Tngrjnl gb !!!!