Looking today at the hilltop of Penrhys
dominated as it is by a 1960's council housing development
and the greens and fairways of the Rhondda Golf Club it
is difficult to imagine the richness of history and legend
connected with this small part of the Rhondda. No other
part of the Rhondda can compare in this manner to that
of Penrhys. Some indicators of that richness of heritage
remain in the small brick building that houses Mary's Well and in the statue
of Mary that looks out over the Rhondda Fawr. However of the medieval monastery
and buildings that once dominated the hilltop there is barely a trace. Despite
the fact that as late as the 1840's some portions of the monastery still
existed, though in large part incorporated with buildings of the farm that
then existed on the site. The farm had largely used materials from the monastery's
remains in its construction. In particular in its barn was found, during
an excavation in 1912, a 30 foot intricately carved beam which had come from
a building of 'some prominence'.
Legends & traditions associated with Penrhys
Early legends tell of a Franciscan monastery at Penrhys, built on the site as
a memorial to the Welsh Prince Rhys Ap Tewdwr, who was said to have been beheaded
near there. Legends tell how Rhys fought a battle with Iestyn Ap Gwrgant who
was supported by the Normans. After being defeated Rhys fled, but was overtaken
and taken prisoner and beheaded. Later his grandson, Robert of Gloucester,
a donor to abbeys at Margam and Neath was said to have founded the monastery
ay Penrhys in Rhys' memory, during the reign of Henry I between 1130 and 1132.
Later historians have cast doubts upon this version of events, claiming Rhys'
death did not in fact take place at Penrhys. Also at the date of the death
of Robert Consul, the Franciscan Order had not been founded. In actuality the
monastery was most probably a possession of the Cistercian monks at Llantarnam
Abbey in Monmouthshire.
However it was founded, what is clear is that the monastery existed and thrived
on the site for the next 300 years, and the estate even boasted a 'taverne house',
no doubt to cater for the pilgrims visiting it's shrine. It is said that the
monastery was dissolved and its possessions were sold by Henry V, as a punishment
for supporting the cause of Owain Glyndwr in the 15th Century. Owain himself,
so legends tell, presided at an eisteddfod at the site in the early fourteen
hundreds. If so the site must have been soon restored as a place of worship and
pilgrimage. For in 1538, during the dissolution of the monasteries, the Chancellor,
Thomas Cromwell, specifically earmarked the statue of Mary at the shrine for
destruction along with other important religious statues such as the ones at
Walshingham.
FFYNON MAIR, Mary's Well
Sited just below the crest of the mountain
at Penrhys stands the small nondescript stone 'hut-like'
structure known as Mary's well. This unassuming building
houses the spring that has been the focus of religious life
at Penrhys, dating back to the earliest days of Christianity
in the Rhondda. This spring has throughout its recorded history
been attributed with miraculous healing powers said to be
of divine origins. Research suggests that the spring's focus
as a place of worship and healing, actually pre-dates Christianity,
and is actually of pagan origin.
In common with many springs
of this nature pagans believed it to be a dwelling place
of divinities and thus possessing mystical powers. Christian
missionaries on discovering such superstitions attached to
a spring such as this at Penrhys, would endeavour to subvert
these traditions, placing the responsibility for the 'miraculous
powers' associated with them as being of Christian origin.
Thus the spring at Penrhys became dedicated to Mary, and
the healing attributes became a gift from God to the righteous.
The spring was said to be effacious in curing many ailments,
such as 'rheumatism, king's evil' and particularly eye disorders.
In addition the spring waters for many years were used in
baptisms at the local parish church. Penrhys was what is
known colloquially as a 'pin well' as the person hoping to
be healed would, after taking the waters, cast a pin into
the well. If the pin became discoloured it was a sign that
their petition would be granted. It is said that even in
the twentieth century 'scores of pins' were often to be found
lying in the well.
The statue of 'Our lady' of Penrhys
The original statue at Penrhys was said to be 'indescribably
beautiful', and contained 'Mary nursing Jesus for a kiss'.
Much smaller that the statue that currently resides at Penrhys
it was thought to have originally been placed in an alcove
at the small well chapel. Legends tell that the original
statue was a gift from heaven, which miraculously appeared
in the branches of an oak tree at the site. The statue, it
is said, resisted all attempts to move it from the tree so
that, 'eight oxen could not have drawn the Image of Penrhys
from its place in the tree'. The statue only allowed itself
to be moved when a shrine and chapel were built to house
it. The original statue survived at Penrhys until the 1500's,
and Henry Viii's dissolution of the monasteries. At this
time Bishop Latimer wrote to Thomas Cromwell suggesting the
destruction of a number of Shrines of Our Lady, believing
them to be a focus of idolatry, and thus 'the devil's instrument'.
The statue at Penrhys at this time was obviously an important
one as it, alongside others such as the one at Walsingham
and Ipswich, was mentioned by name in this letter
Thus it is said the statue was removed from the shrine secretly at the dead of
night to prevent any local unrest. From here it said the statue was removed
to Thomas Cromwell's home in London, and after being thrown from the West window
of St. Paul's by Bishop Latimer, it along with many other images of Mary was
burned publicly.
Our Lady of Penrhys circa 1997
When Ferndale church was built a Miss M.M.
Davies of Llantrisant procured for the church a replica of
the original statue, carved in oak standing in a tree trunk.
The statue that currently stands on the hillside at Penrhys was erected in 1953,
and blessed by Archbishop McGrath on the 2nd July that year. The statue was carved
out of Portland stone and designed, using the many description of the original
statue contained in medieval welsh poetry, to resemble the original as closely
as possible.
Pilgrimages to Penrhys
The traditions of pilgrimage dates back hundreds
of years, and were a major industry in medieval times. Penrhys'
note as a healing well made it a major centre for pilgrimage
and religious devotion. Some say it was second only to David's
in terms of religious significance. Because of its popularity,
the original religious buildings were expanded to cater for
the number of visitors to the shrine, and a ' taverne house'
was erected at the site. At Penrhys the pilgrims tended to
be, on the most part common folk, but pilgrims from all classes
and walks of life made the journey to the shrine. One of
Wales' most famous medieval poets Gwilym Tew describes, 'lines
of upturned faces…as the priests administered holy communion'.
It was common for pilgrims to leave valuable gifts at the
shrine and decorate the Statue with gifts of jewellery and
'gold plate'. The most common of devotional gifts from the
pilgrims however was of tapers or candles, 'often as tall
and heavy as themselves'. Much medieval poetry survives to
this day detailing the pilgrimages and the shrine at Penrhys
and the processions of the sick of every class and station.
After the dissolution of the monasteries, and despite barely a trace of the original
shrine and building remaining, records show that Penrhys still attracted (albeit
in much smaller numbers than previously) the devotion of pilgrims up to the nineteenth
century.
When the Reverend P..J O'Relliy Gibbons came to Ferndale as parish priest in
1936 he revived the tradition of pilgrimage to Penrhys. After the erection of
the new statue in 1953, an estimated 20-25,000 attended the first pilgrimage
to the shrine. The Church of England attended their first pilgrimage to the shrine
in May 1976. Then in May 1977 there was the first pilgrimage of the sick to Penrhys
since the reformation, which over 2,000 people attended. Thus a religious tradition
that dates back as much as eight hundred years still continues today in the Rhondda.
Penrhys smallpox hospital
When the Rhondda first became the industrialised
valley that we are all familiar with today health and sanitary
conditions were, by today's standards appalling, Life expectancy
was low, infant mortality high and the cramped, insanitary
conditions meant that outbreaks of communicable diseases
were common occurrences. Thus in 1904, despite the existence
in Ystrad of a 'fever hospital', the Medical Officer of Health
of the Rhondda in his Annual Report stated the urgent need
for a separate small-pox hospital. Small-pox at that time
being one of the most virulent, highly contagious diseases
known. Subsequent to this report in 1906 the local council
chose a site at Penrhys as the location for this new hospital,
and the Rhondda Urban district Council's Health Committee
purchased three acres of land from Penrhys-Isaf farm. The
site at Penrhys was chosen both for accessibility to both
Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr, straddling as it does the
mountainside between the two. Additionally its isolated position
made it ideal for an isolation hospital, being at least four
hundred yards from the nearest dwellings of Penrhys Uchaf
and Penrhys Isaf farms. The Medical Officer's Annual report
gives the official estimate for the setting up of the hospital
as being, 'including land, foundations, drainage, buildings,
fittings, furniture, water supply, and boundary fence', approximately £35,000.
The work on the hospital was completed towards the end of
the following year.
The hospital served firstly the communities of the Rhondda and latterly all of
South Wales for over sixty years. When the building was deemed surplus to requirements
in the 1970's it had to be razed to the ground by the South Wales Fire service
in 1971, to totally destroy any viruses still present on the site.
