Rest, William ap Howell: Tregaian Church

After a cold cloudy start, the day brightened up in late afternoon to generate a glorious evening.

Was spoiled for choice for pictures because the scenery here was quite striking, especially with the sun low in the sky.

Passed this simple graveyard and it caught my eye. It is very characteristic of hundreds of churches in Wales. Many were rebuilt after the Norman invasion on 6th century foundations and there was a wave of renovations in the 1840s.

Most of the building here dates from the 14th and 15th centuries but includes material from an earier church on the same cite. St Caian, after whom the church is named, seemed to have lived in the 6th century.

The cemetery has several gravestones from the late 1700s but the most notable is that of William ap Howel who died in the late 1500. He'd clearly had a busy life: aged 105 when he died, he left 43 children of a wide range of ages: the oldest in his 80s!.