Information provided by the Rev. Chris Webb, vicar of Llanllugan, and parishioner Marian Jones from Llanfair Caereinion:

There has been a church at Llanllugan since the 6th century; part of the shape of the original oval "llan" can still be seen in the wall surrounding the churchyard (although the Celtic enclosure would have been fenced or hedged, rather than walled).

The current church building dates from late 14th century, and was built as a small abbey church for the convent. Llanllugan is on one of the oldest sites in Wales, but is far from being the oldest church. It is the only Cistercian abbey church still being used for public worship, although others have survived. There are many churches which were under the care of the Cistercians still being used for worship - many of our medieval churches dedicated to St Mary would fall into this category.

There has been a continuous life of prayer and worship in this church since the 6th century. The church was founded by Llorcan Wyddel (also known as Lawrence the Irishman) and his wife, a disciple of St Beuno. The presence of Llorcan's wife was important, as the church is thought to have become a Celtic Christian women's community at a very early stage.

In the 12th century, Robert ab Meredudd - Lord Cedewain - donated land and wood and water to build a nunnery here. The Cistercian nuns arrived around 1190 (at the end of the 12th century), and the convent was confirmed by charter around 1240. Its founder, Maredudd ap Rhobert, endowed it with the manor of Llanllugan. There was only one other Cistercian convent in Wales (Llanllyr in Cardiganshire).

We don't have a lot of concrete evidence about the women who made up the Cistercian community in Llanllugan. Evidence of other medieval women's communities suggests that they would be more likely to be a small group of women from well-to-do families.

Most of the land from which Llanllugan derived its income was given either by wealthy benefactors (like its founder); they would also have benefitted from the incomes of the churches of Llanfair Caereinion and Llanllwchaiarn, the "spiritualities" of which were committed to them by the bishops of St Asaph.

We don't have any evidence about the specific daily life of the convent at Llanllugan. If, though, they followed a similar regime to that of other Cistercian houses, they would have held kept the seven daily "offices" of prayer (Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline) and the night "office" of Vigils or Matins.

The nuns would have daily tasks on the land and would have worked very hard. They had a farm up the road called Gwernfyda where they kept sheep and bees for making honey.

The first public school in the parish in 1847 was held here in the gallery and the school master was Mr John Williams who came from Llanerfyl and he was master here and also at the church in Llanwyddelan. Children used to walk far distances to come here to the gallery of the church. They used to have a plank which they would set out on the floor and the children would kneel down to write on it. The place was cold and books very very scarce.

In the winter time, the little children didn't come to school because the weather was so bad to walk the distance and in the summertime, of course, it would be the elder children who would stay away because they'd be looking after the farm - the sheep, the lambs and the other animals on the farm, helping out. It wasn't unusual to see an elder - perhaps a granny or an aunty - at school with the children if they could afford to pay to learn to read or write.

The window dates back to 1453. Its a very rare and superb example of 15th century painted glass. It consists of three lights. Most of the left and right lights are simply jumbled pieces of glass, which offer a few clues about their origin. They seem to have a link with Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV and Richard III (his mother, Lady Ann, inherited the Lordship of Cedewain from her brother).

There are fragments of two figures in these windows, but they cannot be identified with any certainty. There are two angels at the top of the centre light, both facing the same direction. Almost certainly, most of this glass comes from one or more larger windows; it is not original to the current east window, although it may be original to the convent. The centre light features a magnificent medieval crucifixion scene, and the lower left light has a portrait of a former abbess or prioress of the convent. It is said that during the time of Henry VIII when all the monasteries were being destroyed, it was decided to take this lovely window out and bury it in the earth. It was put into a box and buried in a field where it lay for years and years.

The same thing is thought to have happened in other churches around Wales, including Pennant Melangell. These treasure were hidden away so that they could be kept for future generations. Then one day when they thought that Henry's men had all gone, the window was taken out and put back piece by piece. A marvellous piece of work.

Across the road from the Church lies the stone which was used as a pulpit by Hywel Harries, the Methodist revivalist, when he preached here in 1760. The stone was moved in the 1940s to make way for a road and lay for years in the middle of a field until it was rescued and placed in a prominent place with a plaque.

Information provided by the Rev. Chris Webb, vicar of Llanllugan, and parishioner Marian Jones from Llanfair Caereinion.

• Photos of Llanllugan Church...