St Michael’s Church (Llanfihangel Dinsylwy)

Date

10 July 2015

Location

Tan-Dinas, Llanddona, Anglesey
SH 58807 81487; 53.31142°N, 4.12071°W

Information

St Michael’s is a former parish church dating back to the 15th century built on the remote site of an earlier church. It is known in Welsh as Llanfihangel Dinsylwy (Mihangel is Welsh for Michael) and is situated below Din Sylwy, a 164 m high, flat-topped limestone hill near Llanddona that is also known as Bwrdd Arthur (Arthur’s Table). Din Sylwy is the location of a hill fort thought to have been created in the Iron Age and re-occupied in Roman times. The church is of a simple two-part plan, consisting of a nave and narrower chancel. It is a Grade II* listed building owned by the Church in Wales and is part of the parish of Beaumaris.

Lovely photos! ‘Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru’ – I love those mutations! 🙂 & it is more likely I think that the hill top fort was originally a causewayed enclosure which the people of the Iron Age continued to occupy, but more in the way of a fortified settlement. The remembered sacred nature of the location might explain the appearance of the ancient church here. St Michael is sometimes associated with light, so the sun was probably a focus for the people of the hill top. Compare with St Michael’s Mount in Celtic Cornwall, another elevated site.