Resting place of Bread of Heaven writer saved from sale
CAMPAIGNERS have won their fight to stop the sale of an historic church where the author of the original Welsh lyrics to Bread of Heaven is buried.
Poet and hymn writer Ann Griffiths penned the Welsh language words to the choir favourite Cwm Rhondda – known as Bread of Heaven in English.
She was baptised, married, and buried in the picturesque St Michael’s Church in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa, Powys, following her death after childbirth aged just 29 in 1805.
The church closed its doors in 2020 after it fell into disrepair and religious leaders said they could not afford to fix it. But campaigners were outraged when the “culturally important” church was listed for auction – and given a guide price of just £30,000.
A petition to save the church was launched and gathered more than 1,800 signatures in one day – leading church bosses to postpone the sale.
Musician Lleuwen Steffan began the petition to save the church, saying: “We are still riding on the wave of the poetic expression of her faith.
“She was baptised here, and married here. It goes to auction in a week. It is a place of great historical importance. But Welsh History is disregarded.
“Ann Griffiths wrote a total of just 30 hymns and as clichés go it really is quality rather than quantity. Her hymns are imprinted in our collective memory.”
Ann’s poems and hymns have been set to music and an adaptation of one, Yr Arglwydd Iesu (The Lord Jesus) was read at the enthronement of former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. The Church in Wales said the sale had been postponed for a year.
The original listing by estate agents said: “Comprising a substantial unlisted former place of worship, situated in a prominent location within the Conservation Area of the small semi-rural village of Llanfihangel yng Ngwynfa.
“Traditionally built, to a particular style, in dressed local stone walls under a slate clad roof. This substantial building offers scope for a variety of alternative uses (subject to planning consent).”