Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

as so many were defaced or destroyed and all practices related to them condemmed and vilified as superstition or popery. And yet, as the book concludes, the festivities and rituals associated with these places, espe- cially the wells, were so entrenched in the folk tradition of Wales that they frequently continued by stealth. In our own day, a search for spiritu- ality in the modem world has renewed the interest in pilgrimage to sacred places. This book is a valuable resource for the reader interested in the traditions of pilgrimage in Wales and a guide to one wishing to retrace the ancient ways. It is not complete because the written record is incomplete and if there is a gap it is in the absence of field archaeology in retracing the trackways which are fallen into disuse. Even so it supplies a stimulus to the reader to get out and discover more and is itself a major contribution to the understanding of pilgrimage in medieval Wales. Saints and Stones: A Guide to the Pilgrim Ways of Pembrokeshire by Damian Walford Davies and Anne Eastham. Gomer Press, Llan- dysul, 2002. Pp. xx, 123. £ 7.95. By Mary John, Member of the Executive Committee of the Pembroke- shire Historical Society Saints and Stones trails have been set up to give both holiday visitors and residents in the county access to some of the more remote and beautiful comers of Pembrokeshire and to the deep spiritual quality of these ancient places of worship. Thus the authors in their introduction explain the origins of this inspired little book. In the mid 1990s the Saints and Stones Group, funded with European money through Menter Preseli, began researching and plan- ning routes for modem pilgrims seeking Christian heritage in the ancient places of north Pembrokeshire. The evidence, derived from the early Celtic and Norman church in west Wales and from vestiges of the medieval routes of pilgrims, inevitably leads to St David's, the Cathedral and the shrine of the saint.