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St Govan's Chapel
Medieval Welsh Chapel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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St Govan's Chapel is a chapel located at St Govan's Head, Pembrokeshire in south west Wales.
Built into the side of a limestone cliff, the building measures 20 by 12 feet (6.1 m × 3.7 m) with walls constructed from limestone, and consists of two chambers, one in the front and one in the back.[2] The majority of the chapel was built in the thirteenth century, although parts of it may date back further to the sixth century when Saint Govan, a monk, moved into a cave located on the site of the chapel. One legend suggests that Saint Govan is buried underneath the chapel's altar, located at the east end of the building.[3] The entrance to the building is via a doorway on the north side, low stone benches run along the north and south walls and an empty bell-cote is located at the west end.[4] The slate roof is suspected to be a modern addition compared to the rest of the building.[4]
The building is accessible from the clifftop by climbing down a set of 52 steps,[5] although tourist organisations propagate the legend that when counted, the number of steps differs between going down and going back up.[6]
The building was listed with Grade I status on 8 February 1996. The chapel is within the Castlemartin Military Training Area and is sometimes inaccessible because of military activity.[7]
The chapel was used as a location in episodes 1–3 of the third series of the BBC drama His Dark Materials.
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Ogof Gofan
Under the chapel is a huge cave system, Ogof Gofan, containing a "cathedral-like structure", accessible only by abseiling down the cliff. The cave was re-discovered in 1966, but it had been used by people for thousands of years, from when the sea was miles from the cave mouth.[8]
References
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