Merthyr. The beautiful Victorian church of St Martin and St Enfail in the old parish of Merthyr near Carmarthen is keeping alive a Christian tradition unbroken since the days of saints and martyrs. A Dark Age settlement became the site of a mediaeval, monastic outpost and, for more than 480 years, a thriving parish church. Merthyr is part of the Brosanclêr Local Ministry Area in the St Davids Diocese of the Church in Wales. All services are bilingual. Everyone is welcome.
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Bishop honours historic Welsh Bible forgotten in vestry cupboard.
The Bishop of St Davids joined celebrations to mark the chance discovery of a rare, 400 year old Welsh Bible in the cupboard of our small country church.
The Rt Revd Dorrien Davies was the first to realise the significance of the 1620 Bible when he spotted it three years ago in St Martin & St Enfail’s in the old parish of Merthyr near Carmarthen. The Bishop Parry Bible, one of the first in the Welsh language, was being used as a prop in a display at a flower festival. Former churchwarden Huw Evans found the Bible in a vestry cupboard lying forgotten and unrecognised among candles, linen and wine for communion. The warden had unknowingly stumbled on a book described by literary experts as a ‘precious treasure’.
Bishop Dorrien, then Archdeacon of Carmarthen, personally delivered the Bible for assessment and conservation in St Davids Cathedral Library. The Bishop returned to Merthyr on Sunday September 21st 2025 for a special service to celebrate the Bible, which played an important role in Welsh history in the reign of King James 1.
The Bible itself returned to Merthyr to go on public display on Saturday September 20th - Sunday September 21st as part of CADW Open Doors, Wales’ contribution to the European Heritage Days initiative. Former ITV journalist Ron Lewis interviewed Cathedral Librarian Mari James and Bishop Wyn Evans, former Bishop of St Davids, about the Bible’s significance. The volume is a revised version of Bishop William Morgan’s iconic Welsh translation of 1588. Queen Elizabeth 1 had ordered Welsh Bibles to be distributed across Wales so the Scriptures could be available to all in their own language. This was the main Reformation project in Wales, intended to consolidate Protestantism.
The Bible was placed on the Shrine of St David during Bishop Dorrien’s enthronement last year. In June it featured in a nationwide conference of cathedral librarians and archivists alongside the first print of the William Morgan Bible on loan from Westminster Abbey.
The service at St Martin and St Enfail’s also marked the 150th anniversary of the rebuilding of the medieval church. Those present included the Archdeacon of Carmarthen Revd Dr Matthew Hill, the Dean of Bro Sanclêr Local Ministry Area Revd Canon Ann Howells, Associate Priest Revd Adam Bruce and Independent Minister Revd Beti-Wyn James.
For more pictures of this historic event click on the menu icon top left of this page and visit Open Doors 1620 Bible Weekend.
Services in October 2025
5th October, Trinity 16, 9.45am, Morning Prayer.
12th October, Harvest Thanksgiving, 11.15am, Holy Eucharist, Preacher: Revd Josephine Dean. Followed by light refreshments.
19th October, Trinity 18, No Service.
26th October, Last after Trinity, 9.45am, Holy Eucharist.
Please refer to our regular announcements sheets and to the Bro Sanclêr LMA Facebook page for details of other services and events.
Canon Ann Howells, LMA Dean 01267 468136 annhowells@cinw.org.uk
Revd Adam Bruce 07976 829111, Associate Priest adambruce@cinw.org.uk
Merthyr Bible at Bishop's Enthronement
The 1620 Merthyr Bible had pride of place at the enthronement of the new Bishop of St Davids in February 2024. Our Bible, one of the first to be produced in Welsh, was placed on the Shrine of St David, where the Rt Revd Dorrien Davies took time out for 'quiet reflection'. Seven hundred people attended the service at St Davids Cathedral on February 3rd 2024. Former Churchwarden Huw Evans had discovered the 400 year old Bishop Parry Bible in a vestry cupboard. The Bible also played an important role in St David's Day celebrations at the Cathedral.
Our Bishop Parry Bible dating from 1620.
Vestry cupboard hid ‘precious’ Welsh Bible forgotten after 400 years.
A Bible printed in 1620, one of the first to be produced in Welsh, has been discovered by chance in a vestry cupboard in St Martin and St Enfail’s.
Mari James, Library Development Officer at St Davids Cathedral describes the Bible as ‘quite a treasure’ and ‘a precious part of west Wales’ history of Christian worship’.
Archdeacon, now Bishop Dorrien Davies, personally delivered the Bible to the Cathedral Library for expert examination after former churchwarden Huw Evans found it forgotten and unrecognised among candles, communion wine and linen in the back of the cupboard.
Copies of the Bible, known as the Bishop Parry version, were distributed to all churches in Wales to comply with Queen Elizabeth the First’s instruction that everyone should be able to read the Scriptures in their own language. This was the main Reformation project in Wales, intended to consolidate Protestantism. The volume was based on the 1588 translation by William Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff and St Asaph. The Old Testament was translated directly from the original Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek. Some of the work was carried out in St Davids.
Mari James says the Bible is large and heavy because it was designed to be set up on a lectern or pulpit.
She says, ‘It must have been an exciting moment for congregations to hear the Bible read to them in a language they could understand, rather than in Latin’.
These developments led to an upsurge in literacy and education, pioneered in Wales by social and religious reformer John Vaughan of Derllys in Merthyr. Another link with John Vaughan and his celebrated daughter Madam Bevan is a Welsh Book of Common Prayer dating from 1710 in the reign of King George the First. A total of five historic books found languishing in the same vestry cupboard are in the Cathedral Library for examination pending restoration. They include a 1770 Bible printed by Peter Williams in Lammas Street, Carmarthen. This was one of the first Welsh Bibles to be printed in Wales rather than London, Oxford or Cambridge.
The 'hidden' Bible is examined at St Davids by Bishop Wyn Evans and Library Development Officer Mari James
A rare Welsh book of Common Prayer discovered in the vestry cupboard. This 1710 version was commissioned and authorised by the Bishops of St Davids, St Asaph, Llandaff, Bangor and Hereford.
Merthyr's Romano -British Stone is the first, and oldest entry in 'Time to Tell. St Davids Diocese in 100 Objects'.
Our Romano-British stone features prominently in 'Time to Tell. St Davids Diocese in 100 objects'. The book provides a chronological snapshot of approximately 1600 years of Christian worship through 100 objects in the Diocese of St Davids. The author, the Revd Dr Caroline Jones is Diocesan Officer for the Year of Pilgrimage in 2023. This is what she says:
'The Romano-British carved boulder is kept just inside the porch. It was found under several meters of soil when workmen were digging the foundations for the replacement church. Luckily the men realised its significance and it has been preserved for posterity. It is an inscribed grave marker very possibly for an early Welsh Chieftain such as Cadwr ap Ednyfed ap Macsen or Cadwr ap Bernach. The Welsh archaeologist Victor Erle Nash-Williams dated the stone to the 5" century. Donald Moore in Monuments of Early Christianity in Wales says that there are several hundred ancient inscribed stones like this one scattered across Wales. The proliferation of Christian pilgrimage at that time caused an increase in sea crossings from Brittany, Ireland and Cornwall to and from Wales which led to a sharing of Christian doctrine, culture and practices, and these ancient stones share many common features such as their size and the way they have been inscribed with Latin minuscules that record certain genealogical references in a kind of Brythonic shorthand. This inscription is typically enigmatic. It reads;
CATURGI FILI LOVERNACI. The philologist John Rhys has translated this to mean ONE WHO DELIGHTS IN BATTLE, THE SON OF HIM WHO ABOUNDS IN FOXES.
The stone is a good size and heavy. There are few clues about the sort of people who used it as a grave marker but we do know they chose durable dolerite that had to be axe-hewn into this particular shape. Then a literate person had to compose a memorial verse which was then inscribed onto the stone. The Latin line of text informs us the man had been a keen warrior who may have died in battle. The second part of the inscription is equally enigmatic, having a connection to the deceased's father and foxes. No one actually knows what this inference means. But, in Luke's Gospel Jesus refers to Herod, the Roman tetrarch of Galilee, as 'that fox'. And in that specific context (Luke 13:32) it was used to insult Herod's questionable bloodline rather than his slyness. Old Testament tests occasionally allude to foxes as sly, destructive and unclean, but on this stone the word is qualified by the verb 'abounds'. So perhaps the unknown warrior's father was part of a group of men who were clever at evasion tactics in batle and for that likened to foxes. Brythonic people revered foxes as a wildlife species because of that specific skill as well as recognising them as highly intelligent animals.
Notably there is no cross on the stone. Crucifixion, as a torturous method of Roman execution had only ceased a century earlier, and so in those nascent Christian communities the symbol was not used'.
'Time to Tell. St Davids Diocese in 100 Objects' is available for £30 direct from the author, Revd Dr Caroline Jones on 07530 959547 (call or text) or caroline.jones08@btinternet.com The book is also for sale in St Davids Cathedral, The Ivy Bush Royal Hotel, Carmarthen (ask at desk) and Carmarthenshire Museum, Abergwili.
St Martin and St Enfail's has won a Bronze Eco Church Award in recognition of our efforts to care for God's Earth. Eco Church is an award scheme for churches in Wales and England who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God's Earth. It recognises churches expressing their care for God's world in their worship and teaching, in how they look after their buildings and land, how they engage with their local community and in global campaigns and in the personal lifestyles of their congregation.
Rachel Rees, designer and creator of the Merthyr Flower Festival, has been presented with a cash gift from the congregation of St Martin and St Enfail's. From the left, Worship Leader Heulwen Reese, Marilyn Davies, Rachel Rees and Churchwarden Ron Lewis. Rachel said she'd like to thank everyone for their generosity.
John Vaughan 'a Saint'
John Vaughan of Derllys deserves to be recognised as a saint, according to a former Bishop of St Davids. The Rt Revd Wyn Evans believes the pioneer of free education should be commemorated with a special day in the Church Calendar. Bishop Wyn was speaking at a service to mark the 300th anniversary of John Vaughan's death on November 16th 1722. The full text of the Bishop's sermon is on our John Vaughan page.
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