The mystery of St Govan's origins and the chapel and well

Here we take a look at the chapel and the rumoured origins of the saint who the chapel takes its name from.

Who was St Govan?

It’s not exactly sure just who St Govan really was. There are a number of theories that are believed. However, we do know that he was a hermit who lived at the location of the chapel.

The confusion as to who exactly St Govan was comes from his name being attributed to others who have similar names along with spelling variations.

The main theory is that St Govan was born in 500AD in Wexford in Ireland and was a monk. However, this theory has been questioned with many believing that he was actually a Pembrokeshire saint that not much had been known about and was confused with the Irish monk as the name – Gobhan – was similar.

In the theory, he is believed to have travelled to Wales in his later life to find his mentor who is mostly believed to be Eilfyw.

The theory that he is a relatively unknown Welsh saint would believe that he was a disciple of Eilfyw who baptised St David, but some believe it to be St David himself. This theory also says that St Govan could have been a nephew of St David as there are sources listing his mother as the patron saint of Wales’ sister according to Pembrokeshire Historical Society.

St Govan's Chapel. Picture: Thomas Dufton

A second theory is that St Govan has links to King Arthur and was Gawain, one of the knights of the round table. However, this theory is unlikely as it is believed that St Govan was buried in the chapel, however Gawain was said to have been slain by Sir Lancelot, however his remains were said to have been claimed as being preserved by a number of locations, although Pembrokeshire is not one of them.

A slightly more plausible link between St Govan and King Arthur is made by Sir F. Madden (1801-73) who wrote that the tradition of the locality assigns St Govan’s Head as the burial place of King Arthur’s nephew.

It is said that St Govan, while on the coast, was being pursued by pirates and prayed for a spot to hide in and the cliffs opened up. A small cavity in the rocks is still visible just up from the chapel which is believed to have been the aforementioned gap for St Govan to hide in and later his cave where he spent the remainder of his days.

There is a version where there was said to be rib marks in some of the stones as the cliff closed back up so tightly around him that it left an imprint, but this has also been retold as his fingerprints.

It is said that he was so thankful for this act of God that he stayed there in hermit and built onto the site where he would spend the remainder of his life until his death in 586. His feast day is March 26.

It is said that he is buried under the current chapel, with references to this first being found in the 1800s and now features in the descriptions of the chapel.

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The chapel and the well

The consensus is that the chapel that stands today was built in the 13th century but it may have been older and it was restored in the 1980s.

Nestled amongst the cliffs, there are a number of steps which are said to be ‘uncountable’ as if you count them going up and going down, the number won’t be the same.

Close to the chapel are two wells, one is named after St Govan and is outside of the chapel and the second has no name and is located inside the small chapel.

St Govans Well. Picture: Emma Rhian

St Govans well is historically known as a ‘cure for all diseases.’ Pembrokeshire Historical Society has an extract written by Sir Thomas Gerry Cullum from his 1775 diary which states of the well: “The water is temperate with no particular taste. It still maintains some credit.

“A poor woman was at it with her husband from Caermarthen, near 40 miles; he had a Pain in his Hip; he bathed the Part and drank the Water.”

Welsh historian Richard Fenton is said to have visited twice in the early 1800s and said of the well: “Many cures are supposed to be performed, by bathing the limbs here; and the place is frequented much in summer by the poorer sort of people from the interior, who leaving their votive crutches behind, to line the walls of the chapel, return restored to their limbs, which perhaps may be ascribed, with more justice to change of air and the sea-breeze, than to any virtues inherent in this equivocal moisture, found in the stone basin and in the floor of the chapel.”

The well has long since dried up but it is believed that this remained a tradition for those seeking cures.