Church of St ilan - Mynydd Eglwysilan, Caerphilly, Wales.
N 51° 35.566 W 003° 17.481
30U E 479817 N 5715786
The Church of St.ilan Eglwysilan is an ancient parish in the diocese of Llandaff. Located in the Rhymney Valley and includes the towns of Caerphilly, Abertridwr, Senghenydd and Nantgarw. The parish church is dedicated to St. Ilan.
Waymark Code: WMK00K
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/23/2014
Views: 4
The Parish Church was built on Mynydd Eglwysilan Mountain, ideally situated to serve such an extensive area because it commanded both the Taff and Aber Valleys. It is likely that this was built on the site of an earlier chapel or cell from the 6th Century.
"Eglwysilan is a typical Welsh ‘village’ with a church, a pub and not much else. The church is sturdy but wide and full of light and peace. On the north wall is a sandstone slab carved with the figure of a warrior. This has been dated to the 8th-10th century." Text Source: (
visit link)
"The Parish of Eglwysilan was one of the parishes created in Llandaff Diocese sometime in the 12th Century. This was done under the structuring of the Roman Catholic Church in those days when the country was divided into areas or diocese and subdivided into parishes. It covered an area of more than 30,000 acres which extended from Rumney to Abercynon, including both Caerphilly and Llanfabon. The Parish church of St Ilan was built on Mynydd Eglwysilan; ideally situated to serve such an extensive area because it commanded both the Taff and Aber Valleys . It is likely that this was built on the site of an earlier chapel or cell from the age of the saints.
During the 6th Century, St. Cenydd established a Monastery in Caerphilly, and possibly an ancient church at Senghenydd 'Capel Y Cenydd'. In their choices of routes and sites for outlying churches, St. Catwg (St. Cadog) and his disciples from Llancarfan made use of Roman roads. One of these monks, following the route to Gelligaer, possibly set up a cell at Eglwysilan.
This is a diverse Parish made up of a post mining valley and hill farming communities and residential areas (less than 10miles from the centre of Cardiff ). New housing is being constructed on the Windsor Colliery Site in Abertridwr. Senghenydd is the site of the Universal Colliery where the biggest mining disaster in History took place in 1913 claiming the lives of 440 in the 'Senghenydd Explosion'. This in turn had followed another terrible explosion in 1901 claiming the lives of 78. The disasters are remembered in the Valley with the Mining Museum and the memorial at the entrance to Nant y Parc primary School." Text Source: (
visit link)
Visit Instructions:1) A photo of the church is required for visits to a waymark.
2) Please share some comments about your visit.
3) Additional photos are encouraged. If you can have information in addition to that already provided about this church, please share it with us.