Penrhys, Wales
Our Lady of Penrhys
In her outdoor sanctuary in Penrhys, Wales, 1953 Portland stone, and in the nearest Catholic church, Our Lady of Penrhys, in Ferndale (about 2 miles from the outdoor sanctuary and well), early 20th century, wood.
The outdoor statue in Penrhys
The indoor statue in Ferndale
The sacred well house, a 3 minute walk from the outdoor shrine.
I don’t know if the original statue of Our Lady of Penrhys was a Black Madonna, but it is likely since she shares many Black Madonna characteristics. First, there is a sacred well associated with her. Actually, her story begins with that “St. Mary’s well” (“Ffynnon Fair” in Welsh) and it probably dates back to Pagan origins.¹ It is the oldest recorded Christian site in the Rhondda borough (county). Its waters are reputed to heal all kinds of ailments, especially rheumatism and poor eyesight. One poet says of it: ‘White wine runs in the rill, that can kill pain and fatigue.’ An inscription says: “You are standing on the holy ground”.
Second, the Madonna is of miraculous origins and is said to have appeared in nature, in an oak tree near the sacred well, sometime in the early Middle Ages. That is why we see all her statues standing on oak branches. This too is very typical for Black Madonnas. Some of her sisters in this index, who appeared in trees are in Willesden, London; Telgte, Germany; Err, France; Halle, Belgium; Monte Civita, Italy; Antipolo, Phlippines, etc.
Another version of Our Lady of Penrhys in St. Thomas Church, Clydach Vale photo: Tonypandy
Thirdly, this most beautiful gift of Heaven appeared with the usual Black Madonna power of self-determination. When people tried again and again to take her out of her tree to move her into a church, she refused to budge. They say, 'eight oxen could not have drawn the Image of Penrhys from its place...' The statue would only allow itself to be retrieved once the chapel and shrine were built in the place of its apparitions.² That’s how Black Madonnas all over the world have ‘baptized’ Pagan holy wells, trees, and rocks.
So I’d say, give her a few more years exposed to the elements and she’ll be a proper Black Madonna! Looks to me like she’s working on it….
The original statue survived at Penrhys until 1538 when, during Henry VIII's reformation, the Anglican Bishop Latimer suggested to Thomas Cromwell the secret destruction of the shrine during the night. Cromwell seemed to think that was a splendid idea and had everything was burnt in place, except for the Madonna. She was given “the special honor” of being taken to London and burned at the stake together with her very famous sisters, the Black Madonna of Walsingham and Our Lady of Ipswich.
Even with the shrine and the Madonna destroyed, the sacred mountain with its healing well was still visited throughout the following centuries with records showing devotion up until 1842. In the early 20th century a rich convert to Catholicism, Miss M. M. Davies of Llantrisant, felt called to revive the devotion to Our Lady of Penrhys. She supplied funds for the construction of a memorial church in nearby Ferndale (2.3 miles from the original chapel in Penrhys). It is called Our Lady of Penrhys and houses a wooden replica of the original Madonna. In 1936, Rev P.J. Gibbons, parish priest of that church, revived the pilgrimages and in 1939, the local county council, recognizing the importance of the site, took measures to restore and protect the Holy Well. Soon the local Catholic Archbishop McGrath got inspired as well. He purchased the top of Penrhys Mountain for the Catholic Church and on July 2, 1953, consecrated the new outdoor statue, which he had commissioned to be carved out of Portland stone. It stands within the foundations of the original chapel. Both statues were carved based on descriptions left behind in medieval Welsh poetry.
More than 20,000 people attended the first pilgrimage after the erection of the new statue. Due to its religious importance and because since 1179, Penrhys belonged to the Cistercian Abbey at Llantarnam, some 25 miles away, Penrhys is now part of the “Cistercian Way“, and many people still make pilgrimages to the site every year.