Saint Tydfil of Penydarren
On the twenty-third of August we commemorate yet another of Brychan Brycheiniog’s many, many saintly children who wandered all over the countrysides of the British lands of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, preaching the Gospel. The one we commemorate today is Saint Tydfil of Penydarren (now a community in Merthyr Tydfil, which is named after the saint).
Saint Tydfil chose as her home a stead in a valley, where the Little River Taff (Taf Fechan) meets the Big River Taff (Taf Fawr). She quickly gained a good name among the farmers who lived in the valley, as she had a kind and compassionate heart, and was skilled in the healing arts. She cured both sick people and sick farm animals. She constructed a llan, or an enclosed churchyard, and a double monastery – one for men and another for women. This llan included a wayhouse for travellers, a hospital with several houses, as well as a scriptorium. She never became an abbess, but she did live there in just such an unobtrusive and holy way for many years.
In the twilight of his reign, Brychan Brycheiniog decided to visit his daughters again. One of them, Tanglwst, lived on the west side of the River Taff, and Tydfil lived on the east. Brychan took with him his young son Rhûn, his grandson Nefydd and some retainers. Seeking to stay behind a little longer, he sent Nefydd and the retainers on ahead of him, while Rhûn stayed in Tanglwst’s llan. In retrospect, splitting the party turned out not to be the wisest move.
At this time, the Picts basically had the run of western Britain in the wake of the Roman government’s collapse, and were opportunistically raiding the Romano-British (now Welsh) populace under the cover of a Saxon invasion. Word reached the Pictish raiders that the king of Brycheiniog was in the district and only lightly guarded; they moved to attack. Tydfil went with her father and brought as many of the villagers and monastics as she could before the Picts attacked.
The Picts attacked and slew Rhûn as he held a bridge against their advance, and then moved on the king. The raiders captured the king, robbed him and his other retainers and family of all their valuables, and planned to hold him for ransom. Those who were of no worth to them, they killed. Tydfil did not fight or flee, but instead prayed calmly until the Picts slew her. Shortly afterward, Nefydd came back for his grandfather with reinforcements, and gave chase to the fleeing Picts, whom he defeated at Irishmen’s Hill.
Saint Tydfil, who had died a martyr’s death, was buried in the churchyard which she had established. The area of the Taff Valley she inhabited was renamed Merthyr Tydfil. The llan she had built stayed standing until the thirteenth century, when it was replaced by a stone church dedicated to her memory. This stone church was replaced twice in the nineteenth century, but it is still standing and serves an Anglican community.
Although Tydfil never became a monastic or an abbess as many of her siblings did, her humble life of prayer and service of the people who lived around her assured her an abode of blessedness and fond memory in the hearts of the Welsh people. Holy martyr Tydfil, pray to Christ our God for us sinners!
Church of St Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil
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