The Holy Well
and Chapel of St Trillo
This is a tiny little church in the village of Rhos
on Sea, so small it would be difficult to hold an argument. To be
truthful you could probably squeeze in six worshippers, and it is thought
to be the smallest church in Wales and indeed the whole of the
British Isles. It is located close to Rhos Point the finger of land jutting
out into the Irish sea between Penrhyn Bay and Colwyn Bay. The history
of the Chapel is
believed
to date back to St Trillo a 6th Century Saint who established his "Llan",
an enclosure of land, in the area of Rhos on Sea, and the altar is built
directly over a pre-Christian well. Opinion is divided about the age of
the building but there is little doubt that it has been rebuilt over the
years. There is no doubt that Christians have worshipped on the site for
nearly 1500 years, King
Maelgwn Gwynedd walked the land when the church was established and
may have worshipped here, and to this day the site is still visited for
the holy water and as a place of Christian worship.
The Chapel is close to the Rhos Point fishing weir, where the monks of
Rhos Fynach had been catching fish for hundreds of years, and it is believed
that prayers were offered in the Chapel for successful fishing.
Location :
St Trillo's Chapel is located adjacent to the North Wales Coast Cycle
Path just a few hundred yards to the West of the Rhos Point complex in
Rhos on Sea, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, North Wales