Llwydfaen
the Lost Church . The dry summer of 2006 produced a surprise
for the aerial archaeologist Toby Driver while working for the Royal
Commission for Ancient Monuments in Wales. While flying over
a field near Llwydfaen in the Conwy valley there appeared to be the
characteristic 
outline
of a small medieval church in a place where no church is ever known
to have existed. Toby Driver spotted it during one of his regular
flights to monitor known archaeological sites and discover new ones.
Some time later, (May 2008) members of the Gwynedd Archaeological
Trust met him on the site with their geophysics kit and confirmed
that there were remains below the ground, even though by then the
parch-mark had disappeared completely.
The shape
of the building vividly appeared in the resulting computer chart.
Unusually for a church, the building is not aligned west to east,
and no associated remains were identified, but the shape of the remains
confirmed by geophysics is unmistakably that of early Norman churches.The
church is aligned NNE/SSW, with an apse at southern end. The overall
dimensions of the church are 19.5 (20m) NNE/SSW by 8m. The nave measures
approximately 14m long internally. The apse measures approx. 4.1m
deep and 4.3m wide internally. No convincing remains of a churchyard
or walled enclosure, circular or otherwise, are visible either on
aerial photographs or the magnetometry. There does appear to be a
slight wall- or fence-line on the west side of the church, parallel
to the church wall. In addition, cropmarks show five stony buried
features just to the south-west of the church, conceivably buried
stone slabs or graves. One particular magnetic signal, perhaps from
a buried stone or slab, some 7.5m west of the apse matches the evidence
on the aerial photograph and might indicate a particular fragment
of masonry, or a slab or burial, close to the church.
The church may have been established around 1088 during attempts by Hugh
of Avranches, earl of Chester, and his cousin Robert of Rhuddlan, to
extend Norman control into Gwynedd; the pristine outline of i
ts
buried foundations suggests that the church may never have been completed
beyond its footings.
The vicar of the Church at Caerhun is to hold a service on the site
of the lost church (2008).
The church came to my attention while watching
a television programme about the Royal Commission's work in Wales, and
fortunately the site of the old church is just about five miles from
my home and is well worth an exploratory visit. More >
Directions: [ Map of Llwydfaen the Lost Church location ]
Leave the A55 at junction 19 , head south down the Conwy Valley
on th.e A470 as far as Tal y Cafn. Turn right over Tal y Cafn Bridge
Llwydfaen is on the western bank of the Conwy River |
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