St Non’s Chapel and Well

Traditional birthplace of St David, patron saint of Wales. The well appeared miraculously at his birth, around 500 AD. The site includes a Bronze Age stone circle, a medieval chapel (now ruined), the healing well, and a modern Catholic chapel built in 1934.

According to tradition, St Non was the mother of St David. She was of noble birth, and David's father was Sant, son of a king. As her labor began, a great storm arose. Non found herself on this clifftop, in pain and in danger. But as David was born, a great light surrounded mother and child, and the storm could not harm them. At the moment of birth, a spring burst from the ground where none had been. A rock split in two; one half would later form the altar of the chapel. The marks of Non's fingers, pressed into the stone as she gripped it during labor, were said to remain visible.

Non herself is venerated as a saint. Churches dedicated to her exist in Brittany and Cornwall as well as Wales, testifying to her significance in the Celtic Christian world. She is said to have lived a life of holiness after David's birth, eventually dying in Brittany.

The well's healing reputation established itself early. Pilgrims came for centuries, seeking cures especially for eye complaints. The practice continued into the modern era, and visitors still take the water.