St Illtyd's Church at Llanhilleth stands high on the hillside above the Ebbw valley, one of the oldest church sites in Gwent. Beside it is a mound, probably the remains of a small Norman castle.
Local people had their own explanation. A giant called Ithel lived at Llanhilleth and decided to build a house. He went up to Cefn Crib, the ridge above Hafodyrynys, and loaded boulders into his apron to carry home. On the way the apron string snapped, the stones fell, and the heap they made is the castle mound.
The apron that breaks and spills a giant's load is a common way of explaining cairns and mounds in Welsh and English folklore. The Great British Ghost Tour is the only source found for the name Ithel.
The same source records a legend from Aberbeeg nearby: a golden calf stolen from St Illtyd's altar was buried by the thieves under a whitethorn in the woods below Pen y Fan Uchaf Farm, and although the parishioners dug up every whitethorn looking for it, no whitethorns have grown in those woods since.
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