Ffynnon Wnda, Llanwnda

Dedication: Saint Gwyndaf?

Location: Llanwnda

Coordinates: 52.01553N, -5.01551W

Grid reference: SM931395

Heritage designation: none

St Gwyndaf was a 6th century saint of Brittany who travelled to Wales and founded several churches, including that at Llanwnda. He was the son of Emyr Llydaw, the 5th century King of Brittany, who had many saintly offspring, including St Hywel and St Gwen Teirbron (Gwen of the Three Breasts), both of whom travelled to Wales in the 500s. This would make Gwyndaf the uncle of several famous Welsh saints like St Cadfan, St Padarn and St Llawddog; Gwyndaf himself was the father of St Henwyn and St Meugan. According to local legend, when Gwyndaf crossed a brook on the way from Fishguard to Llanwnda, the fish in the water scared his horse and caused him to fall, fracturing his leg; thus he cursed the brook and declared that no fish would appear in it again. Reputedly, his curse still holds, although it is not clear which brook the legend refers to. Medieval pilgrims on their way to St Davids will have passed through Llanwnda, and probably stopped off at the church.

Ffynnon Wnda itself is a rather mysterious holy well. For such a substantial structure that occupies such a central place in Llanwnda, it is very odd that it has gone undocumented for centuries. I have been unable to find any historical references to its existence, and the Royal Commission did not even mention the site when they visited the parish in the early 20th century, even though they described the church and several of the prehistoric monuments in the vicinity. It is only in the last few decades that the well has, effectively, appeared. The spring has clearly existed since at least the 1880s, as it has always been marked on Ordnance Survey maps, but those maps have never named the site. With all of this considered, it is quite probable that the well is not a historical holy well, but that it is a 20th century construction (built after the Royal Commission's visit to Llanwnda), modelled on the nearby prehistoric burial chambers, and built over the spring in the centre of the parish.

Nonetheless, Ffynnon Wnda is clearly regarded as a legitimate holy well today; when I visited the site in the April of 2025, several offerings of sea-shells and the limbs of a dead crab had been left at the well, and the stonework was in very good condition.

The assortment of "offerings" that had been left at the well

Access:

The well is located a few metres from the side of the main road through Llanwnda, at the end of a small path.