Rhychwyn was a 6th century

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

and the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Llanrhychwyn Llanrhychwyn is a hamlet (place), hamlet in Conwy county borough, Wales. It lies in the Conwy valley, less than a mile south of Trefriw, and a mile north-west of Llanrwst. Today neighbouring Trefriw is a village with a population of around 600, b ...

Rhychwyn (sometimes recorded as Rhochwyn), was a son of

Helig ap Glannog Helig ap Glanawg (standard modern Welsh orthography: Helig ap Glannog) is a legendary figure described in various accounts dating to at least as early as the 13th century as a 6th-century prince who lived in North Wales. Post-medieval tradition ...

, the prince who lived at

Llys Helig Llys Helig is the name of a natural rock formation off the coast at Penmaenmawr, north Wales. There may be a fish weir to the south which tradition dates to the beginning of the 6th century. The sea level was low enough around 1600 AD to make the ...

before it was

inundated A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

by the sea, and now the subject of myth and legend. Rhychwyn had several brothers who established

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

es and became saints, including

Saint Celynin Llangelynnin may refer to: * Llangelynnin, Conwy, a former parish in Conwy County Borough, Wales * Llangelynnin, Gwynedd Llangelynnin (; also Llangelynin) is a small village and community near Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales. Although the village is us ...

, who established the old church at

Llangelynnin Llangelynnin (; Welsh for ''The church of Celynnin'') is a former parish in the Conwy valley, in Conwy county borough, north Wales. Today the name exists only in connection with the church, a school in the nearby village of Henryd, and the nearb ...

, near

Henryd Henryd () is a village and community on the western slopes of the Conwy valley in Conwy county borough, north Wales. It lies about south of Conwy, off the B5106 road. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 594, increasing to 715 at the 2011 ...

, further down the valley. Rhychwyn church is possibly the oldest

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

in Wales.

References

6th-century Christian saints 6th-century births Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 6th-century Welsh people {{Saint-stub