Sometime before 1230 AD, when Llywelyn the Great authorised his steward to purchase land at Rhos Fynach, Cistercian monks had established themselves in the area, a little way inland from St Trillo's cell. It would appear that St Trillo's ambience helped sanctify the area and other Christians followed in his footsteps. Perhaps the monks were responsible for maintaining the tradition of St Trillo. Did they rebuild his cell in more permanent materials?

This Cistercian brotherhood may have built the fish weir in the sea off Rhos Point. The remains can still be seen today. Fish were trapped in the weir at high water and caught as the tide receded. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the weir came into secular hands, amongst these being Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. It fell into disuse in the early 20th century.

By the 1890s the Chapel of St Trillo had become very dilapidated and William Horton undertook extensive renovations. The Horton family were great benefactors to the Church of Llandrillo-yn-Rhos. The marble altar in the Parish Church is their perpetual memorial. Although the present chapel has been renovated, some historians believe that it is substantially a building of the 16th or 17th century.

The chapel was eventually reconsecrated by the Bishop of St Asaph on the 16th of June 1935, St Trillo's Day. Thought to be the smallest in Britain, the chapel is now managed by the Church in Wales and the Christian message is still proclaimed from this spot as it has been for over 1500 years.

Sources: The Parish Church of Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, Norman Tucker Colwyn Bay, It's History Across the Years, Norman Tucker and Ivor Wynne Jones. And Various, A.S.N. and B.W.N. September 2003

Back to the beginning.

Churches of St Trillo and St George, Rhos-on-Sea
Were you, your parents, grand-parents - or even further back, married at either of these churches? We are compiling a photographic album of weddings in the two churches over the years.

If you have such a photograph we should be delighted to include it in the album together with a few details such as date of the wedding, names, where they lived in Rhos, anything you think maybe of interest to us now and to future generations.

The albums will be kept at each church and will be displayed at our Heritage Open Days in September each year and will, of course, be available to anyone interested.

Contact Mrs Iris Roberts, 7 Conway Close, Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy, LL28 4YE.
By Iris Roberts