Dyfnog

Saint Dyfnog was an early Welsh saint.

The 16th-century Welsh poet Dafydd ap Llywelyn ap Madog included a tribute to Saint Dyfnog among his works. It is said that the poet was cured from a pain in his ribs and made a pilgrimage to the saint's well in thanksgiving. There is also a cywydd (a traditional Welsh poem) to him by an anonymous poet in Llanstephan MS 167 dating to the end of the 17th century. The poet says there was an image of Saint Dyfnog in the church at Llanrhaeadr. He described him as a man who had renounced the world, wore a shirt of thick horse hair fastened with an iron belt, lived on bread and water and did penance by standing under the stream of cold water. He continued by describing the variety of miraculous cures owed to the water of Saint Dyfnog's Well and the vast number of people who came to bathe there. Over time, the stream became known as Ffynnon Dyfnog or Dyfnog's well.

As devotion to the saint increased, the waters became known for their healing powers. Many pilgrims came to bathe in the waters and pray, hoping to be cured of their ailments. Those seeking relief for their illnesses would leave a donation to be used for the upkeep of the well and the church. Saint Dyfnog's Well was one of the most visited holy wells; because of the offerings from the well, St Dyfnog's was able to buy the elaborate 16th century Tree of Jesse window. The site appears to have been at the height of its popularity from the 16th to the 18th century. The sunken stone bath dates from the 16th or 17th century.

During this time, various structures were built around the well and bath to accommodate the many pilgrims. Browne Willis wrote in 1721 that there were rooms for changing into bathing clothing and other buildings; one was said to be a chapel which had images of the 12 Apostles in its lower half. Thomas Pennant said the fountain was "inclosed in an angular wall decorated with human figures and before it is the well for the use of the pious bathers". (The water was said to be soft and very cold with no unpleasant taste.) The initial excavation found that the site was also a quarry used to make stone tools some 6,000 years earlier.