Folklore & legend

The Hill that Rose under St David at Llanddewi Brefi

Also known as: Synod of Brefi

St David's Church, Llanddewi Brefi

6th century (legend)

Llanddewi Brefi is a village in the upper Teifi valley south of Tregaron, and its church sits on a distinct mound in the middle of the village. The medieval Life of St David explains why.

A great synod of the church was held at Brefi to deal with the Pelagian heresy, and David came to speak. There was such a crowd that those at the back could neither see nor hear. David stood on the flat ground to preach, and as he spoke the ground rose up beneath his feet into a high mound, so that everyone could see him and hear him. On the summit that rose under him, Wirt Sikes wrote in 1880, now stands St David's church at Llanddewi Brefi, which in the days of its glory was renowned beyond all others in Britain.

The story is a saint's miracle rather than a ghost story, but it is one of the best known pieces of folklore in Ceredigion, and the church on its hillock makes it easy to picture.

Llanddewi Brefi church is in the village centre and is usually open.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open ground
Location
52.180, -3.957 (Sited to the building or field)

Sources: Wirt Sikes, "British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions" (1880), Project Gutenberg [public-domain]

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