St Mary's Church (Nefyn)
The former St Mary's Church of Nefyn on the Lleyn Peninsula ( Pen Llŷn ) in County Gwynedd in North Wales is believed to have been built in the 6th century, while the current building was constructed between 1825 and 1827. In 1977 the church was converted into a museum of the maritime heritage of Nefyn and its surroundings, which was closed in 2000, but a decision was made to renovate and reopen in 2007.
During the winter of 2013, excavations were carried out and remains of Nefyn's prehistoric and medieval past were discovered.
- The first discovery came to light while digging new foundation trenches. Under the planned shed foundation, unknown remains of a stone wall over a meter wide with interior stucco work were uncovered. The wall was part of the medieval monastery settlement that surrounded the early church.
- A single rounded stone showed signs of processing or cutting and is evidence of prehistoric activity in the area.
- The substructure on the east side of the church provided the most interesting archaeological findings. A row of large stones from a stone box was found at a depth of one meter below today's church level. This type of tomb is dated to the early Middle Ages and would then coincide with the first construction of the church. When the stone cover was removed, a preserved skeleton was found to be in the box, a rarity in Wales due to the soil conditions.
The remains provided safe dating and some insight into the person's sex, height, age, diet, and the place where the person grew up. The research showed that it was the skeleton of a woman in her 60s who died relatively healthy, even if her bones showed signs of arthritis . Radiocarbon dating revealed that she was buried between 1180 and 1250 AD. This makes this stone box the youngest known grave of its kind in Wales. The pending examination of the tooth material is intended to determine where she grew up. This is significant as Nefyn is on the pilgrimage to Bardsey Island . She might have been a local resident or a pilgrim.
The woman lived in a turbulent time and could have experienced both the rise of Llywelyn from Iorwerth (English Llywelyn the Great) and the medieval chronicler Gerald of Wales (in Nefyn 1188) in a campaign in support of the Third Crusade .
literature
- Brian Owen: Nefyn, Wales. Recollections from America, ISBN 978-1-10554-781-2 .
Web links
- Description (Engl.)
Coordinates: 52 ° 56 '11.4 " N , 4 ° 31' 5.4" W.