St Govan was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
monkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
who came to
PembrokeshirePembrokeshire is a county in the southwest of Wales.-Geography:Pembrokeshire is a maritime county, bordered by the sea on three sides, by Ceredigion to the north east and by Carmarthenshire to the east...
late in life. It is believed that he may have come to seek the friends and family of the
AbbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
who trained him, who came from
SolvaSolva is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK.- Location :Solva lies on the north side of St Bride's Bay, in North Pembrokeshire in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. It lies on a deep ravine at the mouth of the River Solva. In the ravine is...
(Or Solfach in the
Welsh languageWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
). He may have wanted a brief holiday and thought of the beautiful countryside of what is now the
Pembrokeshire Coast National ParkPembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.It was established as a National Park in 1952, and is the only one in the United Kingdom to have been designated primarily because of its spectacular coastline...
. Either way he was to be found in the exact spot where his
chapelA chapel is a building used as a place for fellowship and of worship for Christians. It may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, or may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds...
is now located, when he was set upon by pirates, probably from the nearby Lundy Island, found just off the coast.
Legend states that the cliff opened up and left a fissure just big enough for Govan to hide in and keep him safe until the pirates left.
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St Govan was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
monkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
who came to
PembrokeshirePembrokeshire is a county in the southwest of Wales.-Geography:Pembrokeshire is a maritime county, bordered by the sea on three sides, by Ceredigion to the north east and by Carmarthenshire to the east...
late in life. It is believed that he may have come to seek the friends and family of the
AbbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
who trained him, who came from
SolvaSolva is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK.- Location :Solva lies on the north side of St Bride's Bay, in North Pembrokeshire in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. It lies on a deep ravine at the mouth of the River Solva. In the ravine is...
(Or Solfach in the
Welsh languageWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
). He may have wanted a brief holiday and thought of the beautiful countryside of what is now the
Pembrokeshire Coast National ParkPembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.It was established as a National Park in 1952, and is the only one in the United Kingdom to have been designated primarily because of its spectacular coastline...
. Either way he was to be found in the exact spot where his
chapelA chapel is a building used as a place for fellowship and of worship for Christians. It may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, or may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds...
is now located, when he was set upon by pirates, probably from the nearby Lundy Island, found just off the coast.
Legend states that the cliff opened up and left a fissure just big enough for Govan to hide in and keep him safe until the pirates left. Either way, the monk was safe from the pirates, and decided to stay on along the cliff, probably to help warn the locals of the impending pirate attack if they were to return.
Govan lived in a small cell that he made in the rock (and is still visible today), living off the sea and the two fresh water springs that used to flow freely from nearby (One used to run from what is now inside the chapel, and one outside). The stone steps leading down to the chapel (as it is now) are said to be uncountable.
Also, within the chapel is the original cell that Govan lived in. There is also the legend of the silver bell. Govan had a silver bell in the bell tower of the chapel that rang with absolute clarity. But the pirates stole it from them and left Govan desolate. Angels flew in and took it from the pirates and returned it to Govan. But as he was scared of the pirates taking it again, the angel encased the bell in a huge stone (The Bell Rock) found on the water's edge. It is said that when Govan rang the stone, it rang with such vigour it was 1000 times stronger.
Legend also states that Govan was buried under the altar within his chapel when he died in 586. It is also claimed that one of
King ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated...
's
Knights of the Round TableKnights of the Round Table were those men awarded the highest order of Chivalry at the Court of King Arthur in the literary cycle the Matter of Britain. The table at which they met was created to have no head or foot, representing the equality of all the members. Different stories had different...
, Sir Gawain, is buried there also and that these two people are one and the same.
http://www.kingarthursknights.com/theland/stgovenschapel.asp There has been no historical finding of a St Govan, so the name is probably a corruption of Sir Gawain. There is no hard evidence for either story.