Hidden Britain AtlasOpen the map
All places › Holy wells & springs
Holy well

Ffynnon Fair, Penrhys

Penrhys, Rhondda

A medieval shrine to the Virgin Mary on a mountain above the Rhondda.

In the Middle Ages, Penrhys was one of the great pilgrimage sites of Wales, with a statue of the Virgin Mary said to have been found in a tree, and a holy well, Ffynnon Fair. In 1538 Henry VIII's men took the statue to London and burned it.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

Open Ffynnon Fair, Penrhys on the mapReport a sighting here
When
Medieval
Where
51.6300, -3.4800
Group
Holy wells & springs

Visiting

On the mountain road between the two Rhondda valleys.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

Nearby mysteries