Welcome to "Way-on-High" the Parish Magazine for the parishes of
Hay-on-Wye, Llanigon and Capel-y-Ffin in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in Powys, Wales.
To learn more about our Churches, their history and the current details just click on the appropriate church link above.
Parish Priest’s Letter
for August
‘Pride is the great sin, the head and cause of all sins, and its beginning lies in turning away from God. Beloved, do not make light of this vice, for the proud man who disdains the yoke of Christ is constrained by the harsher yoke of sin: he may not wish to serve, but he has to, because if he will not be love’s servant, he will inevitably be sin’s slave’.
read more...
The Priest for our parishes is
Father Richard Williams.
He can be contacted at:The Vicarage
19, The Meadows,
Hay-on-Wye
HR3 5LF
Tel 01497 820448
The curate is "Jimmy"
Hay Mothers' Union
Evensong on Tuesday 13th July 2010 at St. Mary’s Church, Hay was the perfect setting for the beginning of our Centenary Celebration. See all about the event and some photographs here...
Flower Festival 2010
This year’s Flower Festival went extremely well. The theme “Creative Spirit”, chosen by Father Richard, was quite a challenge for the volunteers who did the floral decorations, but they managed to carry it through with flair and great imagination. more...
St. Mary’s Church, Hay,
Summer Fayre,
Saturday 28th August 2010
In Hay Butter Market
Cakes – Preserves – Produce ;
Books and good Bric-a-Brac; & Raffle
The Parish of Hay
was separated from the pre-Norman parish of Llanigon in the 12th century at which time the tithes of the manor of Hay were bequeathed to the new church of St. Mary by William Revel, lord of the manor.This deed still exists among the Carte manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
The church was built on a mound above the river Wye, west of the Login brook and as was customary was sited close to the castle, which was at the a motte and bailey on the tump near the present cattle market.This explains why the church is outside the mediaeval town walls, which were not built until 1237, after the second and larger castle was completed.
Geofrey L. Fairs A History of the Hay pub. 1972 (Manuscript for illustration purposes only).
St. Eigon's Church at Llanigon
The dedication, the morphology and the location favour an early medieval origin for Llanigon church. Nothing survives from that period. It is claimed that prior to 1135 it was the principle church in the Hay region.
Capel-y-ffin means "chapel of the boundary", since it lies in the valley of the River Honddu close to the borders within Wales and in England. The chapel itself is dedicated to St Mary and was built in 1762, replacing an earlier 15th century structure. It originally served as a chapel of ease for the parish church at Llanigon, but is now within the parish of St. Mary's at Hay