St Ilan's Church, Eglwysilan, Glamorgan
Denomination: AnglicanDedication: St Ilan Notes: 1. The porch outer entrance is 13th or 14th century and the spacious nave probably has 13th century walling although the openings are all much later. The doorway and two windows are perhaps late 16th century and two south windows are dated 1759 and 1760. The west tower is of circa 1480-1520. The chancel was rebuilt in 1873. [Extracted from The Old Parish Churches of Gwent, Glamorgan & Gower, by Mike Salter, Folly Publications, Malvern, 1991, ISBN 1-871731-08-9]. 2. St Ilan, after whom the church is named, is one of the least-known of Welsh saints. According to one tradition he was a pre-Norman bishop of Llandaff, but this may be a story made up to explain the name. The Book of Llandaff (compiled in about 1100) calls the church Merthyr Ilan - not the place of his martyrdom but the place where his relics were kept. [Extracted from The Cistercian Way website]. Photography: Gael Phillips Date: April 2005 Camera: Olympus digital 
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