Bryn y Saint;Bryn Saint;Bryn Derfel

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NPRN43830
Map ReferenceSH93NE
Grid ReferenceSH9816037250
Unitary (Local) AuthorityGwynedd
Old CountyMerioneth
CommunityLlandderfel
Type Of SitePLACE NAME
PeriodPost Medieval, Medieval
Description
Bryn Saint is noted to be the field where the village wakes were once held. It is also said to have been known as Bryn Derfel. In the eighteenth century Cefyl Derfel (St Derfyl's horse) is said to have been carried in procession from St Derfel's church (NPRN 43870) to Bryn Saint every Easter Tuesday, where it was used as a makeshift fairground ride. Cefyl Derfel is a life-sized medieval wooden statue of what is thought to be a stag, now headless and located in the north porch of St Derfel's Church. The stag is said to have belonged to a wooden effigy of St Derfel. The effigy was the focus of a significant pilgrimage cult to St Derfel, but was taken to London and burnt in 1538 on the orders of Oliver Cromwell.

Sources include:
www.people.bath.ac.uk, 'Three Saints, Two Wells and a Parish Church' by Tristan Gray Hulse

N Vousden, RCAHMW, 4 July 2012