Eglwys a Mynwent St. Deiniol Cemetery

Cyfeirir at Eglwys Sant Deiniol fel Sant Môr ar fapiau Arolwg Ordnans hanesyddol (1889-1901), ond nid oes cofnod arall o Sant Môr felly credir mai camgymeriad oedd hwn,. Adeiladwyd yr eglwys bresennol yn 1875 gan y pensaer E B Ferrey, a gododd Eglwys Llanuwchllyn, hefyd, ond saif ar safle eglwys hynaf Meirionnydd a fu unwaith yn gwasanaethu'r plwyf mawr hwn. Mae gan yr eglwys garreg arysgrifendig o'r chweched ganrif yn rhan o’i thŵr. Mae’r arysgrif wedi'i gyfieithu fel 'Cavos, mab Seiargios,yn gorwedd yma'. Yn hanesyddol roedd Llanfor yn cael ei hadnabod fel Llanfawr (mae nifer o eiriau yn y Gymraeg lle mae’r deusain aw yn newid yn o; dyma ddigwyddodd yma), ac mae'r enw'n awgrymu canolfan eglwysig arwyddocaol ac o bosibl canolfan fasnachol. Mae agosrwydd gweddillion Rhufeinig, Cyfadeilad Milwrol Rhufeinig Llanfor, yn dangos bod y lleoliad hwn wedi bod yn arwyddocaol o ran setliad ers tro. Mae cylchfur canoloesol gwrthglawdd Pen-ucha'r-llan, yn amlycaf ym mhen gogleddol Llanfor. Mae'n edrych dros yr eglwys o safle uchel tua 70m i'r gogledd. Efallai fod y ddau yn gyfoes ac wedi cyfansoddi elfennau o'r un setliad. Caed ffynnon yma, a elwid yn Ffynnon Deiniol rhyw 30m i'r gogledd ddwyrain o ffin y fynwent, a dywedir y llifai’r dyfroedd i'r fynwent. Mae'r bryn, Bryn Pader,sydd bellach yn enw fferm, tua 1km i'r gogledd ddwyrain o'r eglwys. Honnir mai dyma'r safle y gwelai teithwyr yr eglwys gyntaf ac adrodd eu Pater Noster. Yn 1254 y ceir y cofnod cyntaf am yr eglwys. Soniwyd amdani eto yn 1291, â gwerth trethiannol o £19, pan nodwyd Llawr-y- bettws fel capelaeth ar gyrion plwyf Llanfor. Roedd yr eglwys cynnar yn cynnwys corff a changell ddi-dor, tŵr gorllewinol, capel gogleddol a phorth deheuol. Nodwyd bwa crwn rhwng y tŵr a chorff yr eglwys, yn dynodi dyddiad o'r ddeuddegfed ganrif. Mae’r ffaith fod gan yr eglwys dŵr o’r ddeuddegfed ganrif yn arwydd o’i statws uchel bryd hynny. Ym 1913 cofnodwyd y bedyddfaen wythonglog cynharach yng ngardd y rheithordy. Mae carreg yn nodi’r dyddiad 1599, a ail-osodwyd yn y tŵr, yn priodoli adeiladu capel y gogledd i Cadwalader Prys ap Robert o Neuadd Rhiwlas, Y Bala. Atgyweiriwyd capel y gogledd yn 1755. Erys sylfeini capel y gogledd a’r porth deheuolyn y fynwent gerllaw’r adeilad presennol. Mae'r eglwys bresennol yn adeilad rhestredig Gradd II. Mae wedi'i adeiladu o gerrig rwbel gydag addurniadau tywodfaen, sy'n ymgorffori brics a theils Rhufeinig wedi'u hailddefnyddio o Gyfadeilad Milwrol Rhufeinig Llanfor. Mae'r adeilad yn cynnwys corff a changell barhaus gyda thŵr gorllewinol uchel a festri gogledd-ddwyreiniol. Mae sgrin y gangell fodern yn cynnwys darnau o groglen y credir sy'n dyddio i tua 1500. Cofnodwyd Arfbais Frenhinol a nodwyd testunau gyda Moses ac Aaron ar bedwar cynfas yn darlunio golygfeydd beiblaidd ym 1729 yn hongian uwchben bwrdd cymwynasau. Mae'r rhain bellach ar goll. Mae amryw o ffenestri gwybr lliw trawiadol, gweler y lluniau isod. Caeodd adeilad yr eglwys ym 1992 a chafodd ei gwerthu, ynghyd a’r tŷ hers a mhorth y fynwent, i’r berchnogion presennol yn 2014. Trosglwyddwyd y fynwent i berchnogaeth y Cyngor Cymuned yn 1925. Yn wreiddiol, tybir fod y fynwent ar ffurf gromliniol, fely dangosir gan ei ffiniau gogleddol a gorllewinol. Lleolir y brif fynedfa, porth y fynwent, ar y ffin ddeheuol. Mae tŷ hers yr eglwys yn union y tu allan i ffin y fynwent. Ym 1884 adeiladwyd mawsolewm yn hanner gogleddol y fynwent gan deulu Rhiwlas, perchnogion tir y rhan fwyaf o Lanfor. Er gwaethaf gwg Esgob Llanelwy, llwyddodd un o’r teulu, y cymeriad lliwgar Richard John Lloyd Price, i gynnwys pennill ar ei orweddfan yn datgan diolch i’r ceffyl a wnaeth ffortiwn iddo yn Kempton Park. As to my latter end I go, To meet my Jubilee; I bless the good horse Bendigo, Who built this tomb for me. Yn yr eithaf arall, ceir bedd Robert Williams, y Pandy, bardd ac athro ac un o linach o feirdd ac emynwyr a fu’n cynnal diwylliant traddodiadol Cymreig a Chymraeg. Mae’r Pandy Isaf i’w weld ar draws yr afon ar y ffordd rhwng y Bala a Llangynog. Robert Williams biau’r englyn enwog sydd yn gorffen â’r llinell: Beibl i bawb o bobl y byd, a’n hatgoffa o waith Thomas Charles, gweinidog yn y Bala, yn sefydlu’r Gymdeithas Feiblau i ddarparu beiblau mewn miloedd o ieithoedd drwy’r byd. Ymysg y chwedlau sy’n gysylltiedig â’r eglwys a’i mynwent y mae’r stori am Lyn y Geulan Goch, pan ddaw’r diafol i eglwys Llanfor ar wedd gŵr bonheddig ond rhoir ef mewn sach yn y diwedd a’i luchio am dragwyddoldeb i Lyn y Geulan Goch sydd yn rhan o Afon Dyfrdwy, gerllaw. Wrth feddwl am Lanfor a mwy o arswyd, dylid cofio’r broffwydoliaeth o wae sydd yn y cwpled adnabyddus: Y Bala aeth a’r Bala aiff, A Llanfor aiff yn llyn.

St Deiniol's Church, is referred to as St Mor's on historic (1889- 1901) Ordnance Survey mapping, but there is no other record of a St Mor so this is thought to have been an error. The present church was built in 1875 by the architect E B Ferrey, who also built Llanuwchllyn Church, but it stands on the site of the oldest church in Merioneth which once served this large parish. The church has a sixth century inscribed stone built into its tower. It’s inscription has been translated as 'Cavos,son of Seiargios, lies here'. Llanfor was historically known as Llanfawr, and the name suggests a significant ecclesiastical and possibly commercial centre. The proximity of the extensive Roman remains of Llanfor Roman Military Complex show that this locality has long been significant in terms of settlement. A medieval ringwork, Pen-ucha'r-llan earthwork dominates the northern end of Llanfor. It overlooks the church from an elevated position some 70m north. The two may have been contemporary and have constituted elements of the same settlement. A well, reputedly known as Ffynnon Deiniol; St Deiniol's well, is situated some 30m to the north-east of the churchyard boundary, and its waters are said to have flowed into the churchyard. The hill, Bryn-pader, now the name of a farm, is some 1km to the north-east of the church. It is reputedly the point at which travellers first saw the church and repeated their Pater Noster. The first documentary reference to the church was in 1254. It was again mentioned in 1291, with a tax value of £19, when Llawr-y-bettws was noted to be an outlying chapelry of Llanfor parish. The earlier church building consisted of a continuous nave and chancel, west tower, north chapel and south porch. A round arch was noted between the tower and nave, indicating a twelfth century date. The fact that the church had a twelfth century tower is indicative of its high status at that time. In 1913 the earlier octagonal font was noted in the rectory garden. A date stone of 1599, re-set in the tower, attributes the construction of the north chapel to Cadwalader Prys ap Robert of Rhiwlas Hall, Bala. The north chapel was repaired in 1755. The foundations of the north chapel and south porch remain in the churchyard adjacent to the present building. The present church is a Grade II listed building, erected in 1875, on the footprint of the earlier one. It is constructed of rubble stone with sandstone dressings, which incorporates re-used Roman brick and tile from Llanfor Roman Military Complex. The building consists of a continuous nave and chancel with tall west tower and north-east vestry. The modern chancel screen incorporates portions of rood screen thought to date to around 1500. A Royal Coat of Arms was noted with text of Moses and Aaron on four canvases depicting biblical scenes in 1729 hanging above an alms table. These are now lost. The church building closed in 1992 and was sold, along with its lychgate and hearse house, to the current owners in 2014. Ownership of the cemetery was transferred to the Community Council in 1925.The churchyard may have originally been curvilinear, as indicated by its curved north and west boundaries. The main entrance is through a lychgate in the south boundary. The hearse house belonging to the church is situated immediately outside the churchyard boundary. In 1884 a mausoleum was built in the northern half of the cemetery by the Rhiwlas family, landowners of most of Llanfor. Despite the disapproval of the Bishop of St Asaph, one of the family, the colourful character Richard John Lloyd Price, managed to include a verse on its declaring thanks to the horse that made him a fortune at Kempton Park. As to my latter end I go, To meet my Jubilee; I bless the good horse Bendigo, Who built this tomb for me. There is also the grave of Robert Williams, Pandy, poet and teacher and one of a line of poets and hymn writers who maintained traditional Welsh culture and the Welsh language. Pandy Isaf can be seen across the river on the road between Bala and Llangynog. Robert Williams is the author of the poem who ends with the line: A bible for all in the world, and reminds us of the work of Thomas Charles, a minister in Bala, who established the Bible Society to provide bibles in thousands of languages through the world. Among the legends associated with the church and its cemetery is the story of Lyn y Geulan Goch, where the devil comes to Llanfor church in the guise of a gentleman but he is put in a sack and thrown away for eternity into Lyn y Geulan Goch which is part of the nearby River Dee. When thinking about Lanfor and more horror, one should remember the prophecy of woe that is in the well-known couplet: The Bala went and the Bala goes, And Llanfor goes into the lake.

Lluniau/Photo’s © Martin Crampin ‘Stained Glass in Wales’ http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/site/325 https://www.martincrampin.co.uk

Gwydr patrymog, dyddiedig tua 1875. Festri. Patterned Glass, dated aroud 1875. Vestry.

Crist y Bugail Da. A. Seward & Co, dyddiedig tua 1923. Mur gogleddol corff yr eglwys. Christ the Good Shepherd. A. Seward & Co, dated around 1923. North wall of the nave.

Golygfeydd o Ddioddefaint ac Atgyfodiad Crist,a Deddfau yr Apostolion. Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, dyddiedig 1875. Ffenestr tri golau, wal ddwyreiniol yr eglwys. Scenes from the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, and the Acts of the Apostles. Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, dated 1875. Three-light window, east wall of the church.

Y Deuddeg Apostol.Lavers, Barraud a Westlake, dyddiedig 1875. Wal ddeheuol y gangell. The Twelve Apostles.Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, dated 1875. South wall of the chancel.