Inside hidden centuries-old chapel on cliff left untouched since hermit occupant

09 May 2023 , 22:00

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St Govan’s Chapel in Pembrokeshire was once lived in by a hermit (Image: Loughborough Echo)

An old chapel said to have once been occupied by an old hermit as he escaped from pirates has been untouched for centuries.

The man, known as St Govan, is said to have been on the cliffs when they opened around him and then closed before he could be attacked.

St Govan’s hermitage became more of a cave and he lived there until his death.

In the centuries afterwards the area became known as St Govan’s Head and it turned into a popular religious site.

The stone structure was built in the 13th century and can be visited today by people willing to take on the brutal wind and waves.

Spooky abandoned house in woods left full of creepy dolls and forgotten dentures

The building was built into the cliffs (Getty Images/Moment RF)

Wales Online reported: “The chapel, which feels ancient, raw and like few places anywhere in Britain, is a medieval pilgrimage chapel with a history believed to date back to the fifth or sixth century, though the structure you see today is from the 13th century.

“The inside has a vaulted roof and a simple interior of a bare stone altar, which is much older than the stone walls.

“The wind can be brutal and the waves thunderous — and that's if you've managed to cross the military firing range to get there in the first place.

“But if you can face the weather atop this exposed cliff on the southernmost point of — then descend down dozens of stone steps — you'll find a building unlike any other in Wales.”

The wind and waves are said to be "brutal" (Getty Images)

Earlier this year we shared the haunting images of an abandoned chapel which show the decay of a once-prosperous family business.

The funeral home in South Carolina, US, was owned by a second-generation mortician who completed his education at a Pennsylvania mortuary school and returned to South Carolina to work alongside his father in the family's funeral home.

It prospered over the years allowing them to expand by opening multiple locations in neighbouring towns - but now it remains locked in disarray.

Photographs of the abandoned place showcase the eerie and desolate atmosphere of an funeral chapel, with remnants of its former use still visible.

The images captured by urban explorer Leland Kent, known online as , show an abandoned white Rolls Royce on the property left to decay along with empty caskets in a display room.

Antony Thrower