Nevern Church
St Brynach in Nevern
Address: Eglwys Sant Brynach, Newport, Pembrokeshire,
Website: https://www.nevern-church.org.uk/
7 Min Car Journey (4.6 miles)
The church was founded in the 6th century by St Brynach who is believed to have been a contemporary and friend of St David. St Brynach was of Irish birth; he came to Pembrokeshire with a Breconshire chieftain whose daughter, Cymorth, he had married. He founded a number of churches, of which Nevern, then called Nanhyfer, was the principal.
The church has a number of interesting features, including ‘The Maglocunus Stone’, which has an inscription in both Ogham and Latin.
The tower is Norman, but the rest of the church is late perpendicular (1425-1525). The church was restored in 1864.
In the churchyard stands the Celtic Cross, the precise date is unknown but the workmanship points to the 10th or 11th centuries; its total height is 13 feet (4 meters) in height and the cross is 24½ inches (62 cm) in diameter.
This is the “Bleeding Yew” tree that stands in the churchyard of St Brynach’s church in Nevern. The tree is the second tree on the right on entering the churchyard, and is one of a number of Yew trees that form an avenue leading to the church door.
Also in the churchyard is the “Bleeding Yew”, which exudes a dark red sap. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the tree. One myth is that it bleeds for an innocent man who was wrongly hanged many years ago in Nevern. Others believe that the tree will bleed until the world is at peace.