All walks › Berwyn and Lake Vyrnwy
Berwyn and Lake VyrnwyPennant Melangell
Church at the head of a dead-end valley holding the oldest Romanesque shrine in northern Europe, still standing where it was built.
- Distance
- 3.7 mi / 6 km
- Time
- 2 hr 20
- Ascent
- 280 m
- Difficulty
- Demanding
- Shape
- Circular
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
You climb from the church onto the hillside and loop back down the valley. Steady climbing on open ground.
Worth knowing
- The shrine of St Melangell dates from around 1160 and was reassembled from stones found in the church walls.
- Melangell is the patron saint of hares, from the legend of her sheltering one from a prince’s hounds.
- The valley is a dead end and extremely quiet.
What you’ll see
The church and shrine, the ancient yews in the churchyard, and the Berwyn above.
Background
The shrine was broken up at the Reformation and hidden in the church fabric, then reassembled in the twentieth century.