Tomen Garmon

‘Within the cemetery, is a large oblong tumulus, which is said to be the sepulchre of St Germanus’.

S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, Vol. 2, (1854)

Within the churchyard of St Garmon’s in the achingly beautiful village of Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog is a curious mound, atop which is a curious stump of a stone. We are no strangers here, to lumps, bumps and broken stones in the landscape, and had you come across such a mound and stone in an otherwise nondescript field somewhere, atop a windswept mountain perhaps, you would doubtless call it a cairn, a burial mound, within which the cremated remains of ancient peoples lay. Those around you would likely agree and nod their assent.

Tomen Garmon may well be a tumulus - it certainly looks like one. But it behaves a little differently, playing its time-made faint melody discordantly. This is no fault of the mound, of course since the churchyard and its church, of which the present pretty St Garmon’s is a distant relation to the original pre-Conquest, early medieval build, was built here a very long time after the mound was either raised or possibly formed. The question that ought to be asked then, is why the church was built here, in the shade of the mound.(1)

There is a tradition here - I doubt you’re surprised. It is said that St Germanus(2) preached from atop this mound - hence its name. If so, then it is perhaps that this place, so sanctified, was deemed a right and proper place to build an early church, dedicated to Germanus - taking his Welsh name, Garmon. Was it then that the stone which tops the mound was raised? Or was it already there when Germanus first climbed its slopes to preach to those that gathered about its base? We do not know, and we will likely never know - no mind.

But do you see them? The people of the Ceiriog Valley? Do you see them gathered at the mound, upon which Germanus stands? All human nature is there. Curiosity, fear, disdain, anger, elation… Did they take to the new religion immediately in sudden epiphany, as the legends would have us believe, or did Germanus, Garmon have to graft to gain their allegiance to this faith out of the East?

But then, this mound in the churchyard of St Garmon’s in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog may just be a natural mound of earth upon which the later peoples of the Valley infused with legend. Maybe the stump of a stone was there on the mound when they came into the valley and acted as a lightning rod for myth. Maybes. But you’re thinking what I’m thinking, aren’t you? You’re thinking that the tradition is true - you’re thinking that Germanus was here, and stood upon this mound, this maybe tumulus, and witnessed to the peoples who listened and were swayed.

A tumulus was raised here thousands of years ago, in the Ceiriog Valley, and within it lay the cremated remains of Bronze Age peoples. Germanus and his entourage arrive - he is actively preaching in the region and his presence is felt throughout the land here. Perhaps they know of him, perhaps they were expecting him. The people are curious, stare at him as he makes his way through the village and gather as he climbs the ancient mound, overlooking the old routeway through the Valley. His words begin with Old Testament weight - Genesis and Exodus heavy. But his voice softens and the people gather closer to hear him clearly as he tells of redemption and salvation at the sacrifice of Christ. The people of the Valley seize on this new religion and are baptised en masse in the Afon Ceiriog - perhaps some see the way of things and leave, unwilling to give up the old ways. A cross is raised on the mound from which they heard of miracles and life everlasting - a church follows and is dedicated to Germanus - to Garmon.

All this is true. Maybe.

But the story isn’t quite finished. Did Germanus stay? Did he find life here so deeply blissful that he remained here to minister to the peoples of the Valley from this new church for the rest of his life? Did he die here and was he buried in the mound from which he once preached? The traditions have him here, at Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, within the mound.

Footnotes

1. I think we can discount the suggestion that the church was built here in order to usurp the older, pagan site.

2. St Germanus, known also by his Welsh name Garmon, has often been confused with St Germanus of Auxerre (c. 378 – c. 442–448 AD). Both were originally from Gaul, both were active in the 5th century and Germanus of Auxerre is known to have visited Britain in 429 (and possibly 447) in a successful attempt to combat an outbreak of Pelagianism. It is unlikely, however, given the brevity of his stay in Britain, that he was the Germanus responsible for the number of ecclesiastical foundations evident in North East Wales - though his association with the legendary Alleluia Battle (and Obelisk) may well be correct. It remains more likely that the greater number of Garmon foundations were influenced by Germanus, the later Bishop of Man. Baring-Gould & Fisher write indignantly that our Germanus, ‘has met with a hard fate, and no recognition. He has everywhere been supplanted by his noted namesake of Auxerre.’ This is perhaps not quite the truth here - in Clwyd.