Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Aberdaron
POP 965
Aberdaron is an ends-of-the-earth kind of place with whitewashed, windswept houses
contemplating the sands of Aberdaron Bay. It was traditionally the last resting spot before
pilgrims made the treacherous crossing to Bardsey Island. The little Gwylan Islands, just
offshore, are North Wales' most important puffin-breeding site.
THE BARDSEY PILGRIMAGE
At a time when journeys from Britain to Italy were long, perilous and beyond the means of most people, the Pope
decreed that three pilgrimages to the holy island of Bardsey would have the same spiritual value as one to Rome.
Tens of thousands of penitents took advantage of this get-out-of-Purgatory-free (or at least quickly) card and
many came here to die. In the 16th century, Henry VIII's ban on pilgrimages put pay to the practice - although a
steady trickle of modern-day pilgrims still walk the route.
The traditional path stops at ancient churches and holy wells along the way. It's broken into nine legs on the
Edge of Wales Walk
(
www.edgeofwaleswalk.co.uk
)
website, run by a cooperative of local residents. They can
help to arrange a 47-mile, self-guided walking tour, including five nights' accommodation and baggage transfers
(from £280). A similar service is also offered for the 95-mile
Llŷn Coastal Path
, which circumnavigates the
peninsula.
Sights
St Hywyn's Church
(
www.st-hywyn.org.uk
;
10am-6pm Apr-Oct, to 3pm Nov-Mar)
Stoically positioned above the pebbly
beach, St Hywyn's Church has lingered here since the days of the pilgrimage. The left half
of the church dates from 1100 while the right half was added 400 years later, to cope with
the volume of penitents. The church was restored in 2006 and today has lots of informa-
tion about local history, as well as two 6th-century memorial stones and a medieval font
and holy-water stoup. Welsh poet RS Thomas was the minister here from 1967 to 1978
and it seems an appropriate setting for his bleak, impassioned work.
CHURCH
Y Gegin Fawr
(The Big Kitchen; 9am-6pm)
With their spiritual needs sorted, the Bardsey-bound saints could
claim a meal at Y Gegin Fawr, a little thick-walled building with tiny windows, just over
the bridge in the centre of the village. Dating from 1300, it still dishes up meals to hungry
visitors.
HISTORIC BUILDING
