St Michael occupied a prominent place in the thoughts and prayers of our forebears and this is demonstrated by the number of churches dedicated to him in Monmouthshire. There are sixteen in all and seven of them have Welsh names. In this language, Michael becomes Mihangel, which mutates in combination with Llan, to give Llanfihangel (St Michael’s Church).

With so many Llanfihangels, each of them needs an extra part to the name in order to distinguish it from the other ones. Thus we have churchers such as Llanfihangel Gobion, Llanfihangel Crucorney, Llanfihangel Llantarnam, and Llanfihangel -tor-y-mynydd .

 The Welsh borderland is the region with most Michael churches and the old county of Hereford has the largest number in Britain. Many Michael churches are to be found on hill-tops, though in Monmouthshire we only have one such example; in a ruined chapel on the summit of Skirrid Fawr, which is often referred to as the ‘Holy Mountain’.

 Sunday, September 29 is an appropriate day to go for a walk up Skirrid Fawr to visit the site of to St Michael’s Chapel, which is right on the summit next to the trig’ point.  Two small chamfered stones are all that remains of the doorway, that gives access  to a depression in the ground. It is clearly marked on Christopher Saxon’s map of Monmouthshire   which was drawn in 1577. The walk starts from the National Trust car park on the B4521 which leads to Skenfrith. 

 Pope Clement V in 1678,  granted a plenary indulgence (for a limited period of seven years) to pilgrims visiting this chapel on Michaelmas Day. The Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Michael in Pen y Pound, Abergavenny, possesses a rescript relating to Pope Clement, and it is dated three years before the martyrdom of St David Lewis, who no doubt would have led pilgrims up to the Chapel at a time when the altar was still intact.

 Two years later, John Arnold the owner of Llanfihangel Court, stated in his Excommunications regarding Popery in Monmouthshire that he ‘had seen a hundred Papists meet on top of the high hill, called St Michael’s Mount, where frequent meetings eight or ten times a year were held. Mass is said and sometimes sermons are preached there.’ 

 The chapel is no longer standing because John Arnold had it demolished, but this  did not stop the Catholics from going there, for this was confirmed by John Scudamore of Kentchurch Court, who commented that he ‘saw very great numbers of people at their Devotion on top of a high hill in Monmouthshire called St Michael’s Mount, where there is a ruinous Chappel and a stone with crosses on it, which he took to be an Altar and that he had seen people with beads in their hands kneeling towards the said stone.’ 

 Evidence that there was indeed a chapel on the summit of Skirrid Fawr can be seen on an oil painting dated 1680 that clearly shows the chapel standing on the summit and this must have been just before it was demolished.

 To the north of Skirrid Fawr is the village of Llanfihangel Crucorney, a name derived from crug-y-cornel, which translates: St Michael’s Church near the corner of the rock. In the village is a 12th century church which in 1956 was designated a Grade II Listed building.

 Many churches in Wales were rededicated to St Michael by the Normans, so this is why there is such a large number of Llanfihangels in Wales. However, there were several Celtic churches dedicated previously to Mihangel in the 10th and 11th centuries, probably because of his association with the Book of Revelation, which makes him the principal fighter of the dragon. The Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicle of the Princes) refers to possibly the first dedication to Michael in Wales, between 710 and 720, and the Anglo Saxon Chronicle gives the date for an early Llanfihangel as 719. 

 In stained glass windows St Michael is usually depicted as an angelic warrior, armed with a helmet, sword and shield. He is often depicted standing over a dragon, which is symbolic for the defeated figure of Satan, and he sometimes pierces it with a lance. In older depictions St Michael may be seen holding a scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed, and he may also hold the book of life, to show that he has taken part in the judgement.

 His feast day falls on September 29th when the Sun is in Libra, the sign of Justice, when the hours of darkness and light are easily balanced. It was a day when pilgrims of previous times would gather at churches dedicated to him and fairs would be held in his honour. 

It is of great significance that a window at the base of the tower of Llanfihangel Crucorney Church aligns with a window on the far wall of the tower and they are positioned so that on 29th September, the setting sun can shine through both windows and illuminate the altar at the opposite end of the nave.

 There is a similar situation  at St David’s Church, Llanthony, for it is sited so that the axis is aligned with the sun, as it rises over Hatterrall Hill on St David’s Day (March 1st). Likewise the ruined church of the adjoining priory, is dedicated to St John the Baptist and is orientated for the Baptist’s Day June 24th). 

St Michael the archangel is a spiritual warrior who defends us in battles involving good versus evil and he is a guardian of the Church. He is also a champion of justice, a healer of the sick and the patron saint of the military, Police Officers, Firemen, sailors and anyone else who works in dangerous conditions. However, it must be realised that  he was never a human being who lived on earth, but has always been seen as a heavenly angel who was declared a saint.  

 In the Middle Ages, the cult of St Michael reached its peak, for Pilgrims from all over Europe would embark on journeys to major shrines such as St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, and Mont St Michel in Normandy. These are both places where shining visions of the saint were reported to have appeared in the early centuries of Christianity

A Church dedicated to St Michael crowned the Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, until it was destroyed by an earthquake in the 13th century. The building was later replaced but today all that remains is  St Michael’s Tower which has become a potent symbol, known all over the world. 

 The association of St Michael with high places, such as the little chapel on the summit of Skirrid Fawr endured throughout the Middle Ages. Stretching from the western tip of Cornwall to the extreme eastern part of East Anglia. In southern Britain, there is a remarkable alignment of ancient sites which was identified by the mystical scholar John Michell in the 1960s. This is the most famous ley line in Britain, yet most people today have probably never heard of it. There are ten churches on this line, that stand in high places and are dedicated to St Michael and other dragon slaying saints, such as St George. These sites include St Michael’s Mount, Glastonbury Tor and the tiny Brinton Church which stands on a high crag.  

 I have enjoyed researching this strange story of St Michael and I find it remarkable that  he was never a human being who lived on earth, but has always been seen as a heavenly angel who was declared a saint. Thus, to my mind, he is  undoubtedly another important ingredient in the ‘magic of Monmouthshire’.