Visited July 2023

Location	St Govan's Head, Pembrokeshire
Entrance Fee	No
Railway Station Nearby	No
Parking	Yes
Facilities	None
Map

Review

This tiny chapel was mostly built in the thirteenth century, although some parts may date back as far as the sixth century. The saint it was named after reputedly lived in the tiny bay where the chapel was built, but he predates the actual building. Saint Govan was said to have had many problems with pirate raids along the coast, and that he was protected from harm by the rocks in the cove where he was hiding which covered his hiding place so that he wouldn't be found by them. Nice story!

To get to the chapel you have to go down a series of steps, and it is said that you can count them on the way down and then back up again and the amount of steps will never be he same. We can vouch for this as all the members in our group counted and reported a different number of steps.

The chapel is now completely empty inside, but the building is very sweet and picturesque, and was used as a location for His Dark Materials. It appears to feature very heavily on Instagram, if that is your thing. 

The main thing to note about the chapel is that to get to it you have to drive through a Ministry of Defence shooting range, and the roads are closed on certain days for firing practice. Therefore you need to check before going that the site can be accessed. On the days that the roads are open, the cliff top land that lies within the shooting range is also accessible, and is an interesting place for a walk, not just because of the lovely coastal views it allows, but also because there are various structures added by the military which are scattered around the cliffs. You can't get access to the structures but they add an extra layer of interest to the walk.

There is a large car park at the top of the cliff, but no facilities up there. The nearest cafes/toilets are in nearby Bosherton. 

More info:  St Govan's Chapel