Tregaron
Located in the centre of the town, possibly on the site of a Bronze Age barrow, the Grade ll listed church, dedicated to St Caron, dominates the town square and the historic drover’s route to England. The imposing west tower, possibly fourteenth-century and one of the largest in the county, is all that remains of the medieval building after a series of alterations and rebuilds, the last of which was in 1878–9.
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Situated to the south of the square and bus stop (2 hourly service to Aberystwyth and Lampeter)
Postcode SY25 6JL
OS Grid Ref SN68005970
Key & visitor guide requests:
Mrs Jennie Samuel 01974 298562
Services:
Sunday 11am
Mothers Union meeting: for details 01974 298562
Entered through the tower’s barrel-vaulted ground floor, the church consists of a joined nave and chancel under one roof but separated by an iron screen of 1924. The seven-sided font is one of several fine medieval examples in the area.
The church contains several stained glass windows, all but one twentieth century. There are four by the Lancaster firm of Shrigley & Hunt and the east window, placed as a war memorial in about 1920, includes St David and St George either side of the Risen Christ. One of two windows by Celtic Studios is another war memorial, dedicated to the memory of three men killed in the Second World War. A window by Janet Hardy was added in 2005 and the most recent window was made by Catrin Davies and installed in 2022.
The lack of reliable early sources means that our knowledge of St Caron remains speculative. The town appears to take its name from the saint, although the river flowing alongside the church is also named Caron. Caron was clearly thought to be the patron of the church by the later Middle Ages, and could possibly have been an alternative spelling of the famous Irish saint Ciaran.
Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick visited St Caron’s for his book The History and Antiquities of the County of Cardigan (1810). He removed three post-Roman inscribed stones to his home at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire, where one is said to remain. The other two are held by the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. These are closely associated with the examples which can be seen at St David’s, Llanddewi Brefi and could perhaps have originated at the nearby site of the Roman fort Brenia at Llanio.
Other churches nearby
