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St. Peter's Churchyard Cross, Henllys is a medieval stone cross standing in the churchyard of St. Peter's Church in Wales. The monument is protected by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument under reference MM309. Such crosses were common features of Welsh parishes from the medieval period onwards, serving both as devotional markers and focal points within the sacred landscape of the churchyard.
The cross rises from bedrock of Lower Devonian sandstone and conglomerate, strata formed during the Early Devonian period over 400 million years ago. This local stone would have provided the material for the cross itself and the surrounding buildings. The interbedded nature of the underlying geology—alternating layers of sandstone and conglomerate—reflects the varied depositional environments of an ancient coastal landscape, now exposed in the solid geology beneath Henllys.
As a churchyard cross, this monument testifies to medieval Christian practice and the organisation of religious space in the Welsh parish. Its continued presence and protection reflects its significance as both a historical structure and a marker of long continuity in the landscape, with the stone beneath it recording geological processes older than any human settlement at this location.
St. Peter's Churchyard Cross, Henllys is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM309. View the official record →
St. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MM309.
St. Peter's Churchyard Cross, Henllys dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a cross. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
St. Peter's Churchyard Cross, Henllys is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is MM309.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Croes Carn Einion Roman Site (4.8 km), Coed y Defaid Camp (4.8 km), Gwern y Cleppa Burial Chamber (6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of St. Peter's Churchyard Cross, Henllys's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
St. Peter's Churchyard Cross, Henllys stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.