Long Description:We found this well from completing the geocache in the area and
gps_jack describes the site:
'The Holy Well of St. Cybi is a beautiful, peaceful and serene
location in the village of Llangybi, Near Pwllheli and Criccieth in
North Wales on the Llyn Peninsula. The well is housed in a small
building whose roof and floors are long gone. The cottage is set
with a beautiful backdrop of a wooded hill, it looks as if there is
a path from here through the woods, a good place to walk a dog
perhaps?
St Cybis well, pronounced 'Cubbi'(I think)is an ancient place
used by St.Cybi for healing the sick. The pool is about 8' square
and filled by a beautiful clear stream. The well is inside the
ruined building.'
Wales Directory lists the following:
'St Cybi’s well, which is close to Llangybi Church, is famous as a
place where people came to in the past to seek healing. St Cybi's
Well is situated in an enchanting valley and is one of the most
elaborate structures of its kind in this area of north Wales. The
well is traditionally associated with St Cybi. According to the
Life, Cybi was born in Cornwall. He had travelled widely,
particularly in the Irish Sea area, before he came with his
disciples to north-west Wales. Upon landing on the island of
Anglesey, he is supposed to have struck a rock with his staff from
which water immediately flowed. The well was a place of pilgrimage
and the waters were reputed to cure warts, lameness, blindness,
scrofula, scurvy and rheumatism.....'
Alan Fryer on geograph knows the following:
'The rear well chamber is where the water flows in from the slopes
of Garn Bentyrch. On the site of a holy well of pagan or Celtic
Christian origin, named for St Cybi who is reputed to have lived in
this area in the 6th century. In more recent centuries the waters
were supposed to cure a whole range of ailments. The building
surrounding the well chambers is on the left of the picture. On the
right is the cottage which was added in the 18th and 19th
centuries, the ground floor predating the second storey by many
years.'
There is more information on St Cybi below from the Friends of
St Cybi:
'St Cybi's Church is truly ancient. The original was built on the
site of a monastic settlement dating back to 540 AD. It was founded
within the protection of an abandoned Roman fort by St. Cybi, first
cousin of St. David, the Patron Saint of Wales. He came here at the
end of his life, having preached the gospel throughout Gaul,
Cornwall, Devon, South Wales, Aran, Meath and the Lleyn Peninsular.
Churches he founded can still be seen at Llangybi on the Lleyn, Usk
and at Duloe and Tregony in Cornwall. He was also a friend of St.
Seiriol of Penmon.
St. Cybi died in 554 AD, leaving the legacy of the Celtic Clás,
which controlled most of the West of Anglesey until the
Reformation.
The church was sacked by the Vikings in the 10th centuryand
suffered further violation when Henry IV's army invaded Anglesey
from Ireland in 1405, most of Wales being under the control of
Owain Glyndwr at the time.
Sadly, when Henry's men returned to Dublin, they took with them
St.Cybi's shrine and relics. These were installed in Christ Church
cathedral in Dublin, but disappeared at the time of the
Reformation.
The last assault on the church took place in the 17th century when
soldiers of Cromwell were garrisoned in the church for several
years. They systematically destroyed the interior windows, font,
tombs and statues. The empty niches in the porch stand in testament
to their actions. Thankfully, the carvings above the door
survived.
The postcard to the right shows the church in 1899, complete with
mountings for gas lighting among the pews!'
