Church of St Ilan - Bell Tower - Mynydd Eglwysilan, Caerphilly, Wales.
N 51° 35.566 W 003° 17.481
30U E 479817 N 5715786
Eglwysilan is a typical Welsh ‘village’ with a church, a pub and not much else. The medieval church has a sturdy Bell Tower that used to have a ring of eight bells, alas now dormant, other than a single tower bell.
Waymark Code: WMTGW7
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/23/2016
Views: 1
Saint Ilan's Parish Church features a medieval Bell Tower, The Church is commonly known as Eglwysilan Church, as it standing high on Mynydd Eglwysilan Mountain, South Wales.
There must be at least one Bell in the Tower, As the Church performs Marriages, Funerals & has active services.
Eglwysilan is an ancient parish in the diocese of Llandaff. Located in the Rhymney Valley and includes the towns of Caerphilly, Abertridwr, Senghenydd and Nantgarw.
The Parish Church was built on Mynydd Eglwysilan Mountain, ideally situated to serve such an extensive area because it commanded views of both the Taff & Aber Valleys. It is likely that this was built on the site of an earlier chapel or cell from the 6th Century.
"The Parish of Eglwysilan was one of the parishes created in Llandaff Diocese sometime in the 12th Century. This was done under the structuring of the Roman Catholic Church in those days when the country was divided into areas or diocese and subdivided into parishes. It covered an area of more than 30,000 acres which extended from Rumney to Abercynon, including both Caerphilly and Llanfabon. The Parish church of St Ilan was built on Mynydd Eglwysilan; ideally situated to serve such an extensive area because it commanded both the Taff and Aber Valleys . It is likely that this was built on the site of an earlier chapel or cell from the age of the saints.
During the 6th Century, St. Cenydd established a Monastery in Caerphilly, and possibly an ancient church at Senghenydd 'Capel Y Cenydd'. In their choices of routes and sites for outlying churches, St. Catwg (St. Cadog) and his disciples from Llancarfan made use of Roman roads. One of these monks, following the route to Gelligaer, possibly set up a cell at Eglwysilan.
This is a diverse Parish made up of a post mining valley and hill farming communities and residential areas (less than 10miles from the centre of Cardiff ). New housing is being constructed on the Windsor Colliery Site in Abertridwr. Senghenydd is the site of the Universal Colliery where the biggest mining disaster in History took place in 1913 claiming the lives of 440 in the 'Senghenydd Explosion'. This in turn had followed another terrible explosion in 1901 claiming the lives of 78. The disasters are remembered in the Valley with the Mining Museum and the memorial at the entrance to Nant y Parc primary School." Text Source: (
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