HOME - WALES - PEMBROKESHIRE

Ffynnon Degan, Tresinwen

Dedication: Saint Degan Location: Tresinwen Coordinates: 52.01918N, -5.05168W Grid reference: SM907400 Heritage designation: none

St Degan, who is also known as Dagan and Tegan, was a 6th or 7th century Irish saint who is said to have visited Tresinwen at some point during his lifetime. According to tradition, Degan left Ireland for Cornwall and became a student of St Petrock, before moving back to Ireland and - at some point - becoming a consecrated bishop. A hagiography was never written about Degan, so very little is known for certain about him, but he was mentioned in a letter that was written by Archbishop Laurence of Canterbury in the early 7th century (this letter was recorded by the Venerable Bede, but not ascribed a date) as "Bishop Dagan".

Degan was a great traveller, which earned him the title of "the Itinerator", and, according to local legend, one of these such travels brought him to the area around Tresinwen, which he reached, it is said, by sea. In 1811, Richard Fenton attested that the local people were apt to point out hoof prints in the rocks near the shoreline that were believed to have been left by St Degan when he emerged from the sea on a horse. Although Degan probably did not travel across the ocean riding a horse, he almost certainly would have landed his boat in the bay immediately west of Pen Capel Degan, known as Porthsychan. He does not seem to have ventured far into Wales from Tresinwen, as his cult is centred only around his small chapel on the headland, where a relic, his holy robe, was once kept. This chapel is thought to have been visited by pilgrims on their way to St Davids.

The earliest known reference to Ffynnon Degan was made (if Richard Fenton, writing in 1811 in A Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire, is to be believed) in 1720 by a man named H. Goff, who, according to Fenton, was "a member of the cathedral of St David's". Goff is said to have stated that "above a small creek in Lanwnda [sic] parish there is a ruined chapel, called St. Degan's, having near to it a spring, named after the saint; and above the spring a tumulus, called St. Degan's Knwc or Knoll, where people resort to seat themselves on holidays and sundays". Rather confusingly, there is not, and almost certainly has never been, a spring at this exact location, so it appears that Goff used some poetic licence in his description.

The spring that historic Ordnance Survey maps name as the well, half a mile south of the chapel, is certainly the correct site, and it is at the location that is given by the Coflein database (which incorrectly names the well after St Degfan, a completely different saint). Of course, as this spring does not fit Goff's description, and as the Coflein database is so unreliable, the accuracy of this has been called into question. However, there is much evidence to prove that this spring is the true holy well. Firstly, the name of the field within which the spring is located is called "Werglawdd Degen", which evidently contains the name of the saint; none of the surrounding fields are named after Degan, so this field must have had special significance - probably because it contained the holy well. Secondly, a footpath still survives that connects, albeit slightly indirectly, the site of the chapel and the well. Additionally, the robe of St Degan was probably moved to Tai-Bach Farm after the Reformation, which establishes another link to Degan's cult. Yet another piece of evidence is found in the name of the point at which the stream (reportedly known as "Nant Degan") that is fed by this spring reaches the sea: Aber Degan, or "Degan's estuary".

Given the spring's location, it is probable that pilgrims would have visited the spring first, before embarking on the journey to the chapel. Even in the 18th and 19th centuries, the well was still believed to have the power to cure eye diseases.

When I visited Ffynnon Degan in the April of 2025, the spring was incredibly overgrown and was quite difficult to reach. Nonetheless, it was producing a copious amount of clear water, and there were several large stones scattered around the source that may or may not be fragments of a medieval structure. I could, unfortunately, find no trace of the chapel's foundations on the headland. It is worth noting that the image purporting to be of Ffynnon Degan on Tripadvisor is not the true well and appears to be a photograph of a pool formed by one of the many streams that can be seen on Pen Capel Degan.

Images:

Old OS maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Copyright 2025 britishholywells.co.uk