Sacred & Spiritual
...Pagans & Pilgrimages
With its ancient churches, footpaths and picnic spots, generations of visitors have enjoyed day trips from Tenby to Caldey Island. Saint Illtyd and Saint Dyfrig founded a monastery here in the 6th century. The current inhabitants are Cistercian monks, and their charming monastery takes pride of place in the centre of the island. Visit the old priory and St Illtyd's Church with its oddly shaped steeple. Inside is a stone with an inscription in Ogham dating from around 500 AD; one of the earliest examples of writing in Wales. Various attempts at translation include ‘Dyfrig’, ‘Illtud’ and ‘Jesus’. Poet and painter David Jones (1895-1974) was a frequent visitor to Caldey - his epic poem In Parenthesis is considered one of the greatest literary works of the First World War.
Photograph of Caldey Island - copyright Colin Bell / Geograph
Photograph of the Caldey Ogham Stone - copyright Humphrey Bolton / Geograph
Caldey Island
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- Region : South West Wales
- Grid Ref : SS 14201 96293
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With its ancient churches, footpaths and picnic spots, generations of visitors have enjoyed day trips from Tenby to Caldey Island. Saint Illtyd and Saint Dyfrig founded a monastery here in the 6th century. The current inhabitants are Cistercian monks, and their charming monastery takes pride of place in the centre of the island. Visit the old priory and St Illtyd's Church with its oddly shaped steeple. Inside is a stone with an inscription in Ogham dating from around 500 AD; one of the earliest examples of writing in Wales. Various attempts at translation include ‘Dyfrig’, ‘Illtud’ and ‘Jesus’. Poet and painter David Jones (1895-1974) was a frequent visitor to Caldey - his epic poem In Parenthesis is considered one of the greatest literary works of the First World War.
Photograph of Caldey Island - copyright Colin Bell / Geograph
Photograph of the Caldey Ogham Stone - copyright Humphrey Bolton / GeographMore Sacred & Spiritual locations
