Tag: saints

• What is a Llan?

  

  Recently a friend from Germany made a quick visit to Wales and noticed the large number of villages and towns had the prefix of Llan. Later he asked me what it meant. Being Welsh, I’d not thought too much about this beyond the obvious the use of Llan almost invariably denoted a church. I had…

  Paul Challinor

  March 24, 2026

  Ancient Churches, History, Wales

  christianity, History, ireland, religion, saints

• The Virtuous Well – At Water’s Edge

  

  The path narrowed quickly as I leave the road at Trellech, slipping between hedgerows stitched with fern and moss below the bare winter trees and hedges. The village fell quiet behind me, the quiet only disturbed by a car passing me out of the village and the sounds of roofers replacing a roof on a…

  Paul Challinor

  March 11, 2026

  Wales, Welsh Legends, Wells and Springs, Sacred Wells

  Celtic traditions, Healing springs, Hidden Wales, History, Holy wells, Monmouthshire history, Sacred landscapes, Sacred wells Wales, saints, Trellech, Virtuous Well, Wales, Welsh folklore