St. Michael's Church In Llanfihangel Yng Ngwynfa

A Memory of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

In 2003 my son and I travelled from Alberta, Canada to this tiny village in pursuit of our Owen family history. A family bible revealed that my great great great grandfather (Thomas Owen) was born, lived and died in Llanfihangel. Eager to find evidence we first entered the church yard of St. Michael's and to our delight his gravestone was right in front of us. We knew it to be authentic as his wife, Eleanor Davies and Celyn Bach the name of their cottage were also inscribed on the monument. A wonderful Dr. Griffiths whom we met later, possessed an ordinance map which showed the location of Celyn Bach. Although it was only a ruin it was much more than that to my family history. Years later I found out that the church was going to be demolished so I joined a Welsh group about saving and perhaps restoring this gem. The churchyard also has a monument to Ann Griffiths, the famous Welsh hymn writer. I continue to advocate for St. Michaels. Since that visit my American family history cousin travelled to Llanfihangel and discovered new information about the Owens that we are currently tracking. from Janet Hamilton Owen,Edmonton, AB

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