St Stephen
Bodfari, Denbighshire
An inspiring place of pilgrimage for centuries and visited by St Winifred en route from Holywell to Gwytherin, where she would become abbess and end her life.
There’s a 14th century healing cross in the churchyard, which also has a peaceful prayer space, is a haven for wildlife and boasts a magnificent display of Meadow Saxifrage in May. There is an interactive bug hotel display and a bug hotel behind the church.
Inside, the ‘Vinegar Bible', so called as a result of a typesetting error, is on permanent display.
The church was repaired by Gabriel Piozzi and Hester Lynch Thrale, a friend of Dr Johnson, who also visited the church, at the beginning of the 18th Century and is an oasis of tranquility, where visitors can light a candle, say a prayer or just sit and enjoy the light illuminating the beautiful stained glass, including some medieval fragments and three unusual small panels set into a window, depicting Charles I, James I and Archbishop John Williams.
Prayer notes left by the candle stand will be gathered weekly and prayed for during services. The church remains cool during the summer as its walls are so thick, a fact well known to Dafydd Ddu Hiraddug, vicar of Tremeirchion and canon of St Asaph in the mid 14th century. He made a bargain with Gwen Goch, a local witch, that she would stop stealing children if he would give his body to the devil, whether he was buried in a church or in a churchyard. He gave orders that his coffin should be placed in a hole in the wall, thus outwitting the devil by ensuring that he was neither in the church nor the churchyard. His tomb can still be seen.
Donations of clothes for refugees and food for the foodbank can be left in the porch.