Some five miles from Abergavenny, gateway to the Brecon Beacons, sits the remote oddity of 14th-century Partrishow Church, built on the site of a 6th-century hermit’s abode.
The waters of St Ishow’s well have long been thought to possess healing powers and the little church is so far off the beaten track that its treasures remained untouched during the Reformation.
They include a 15th-century screen and loft of Irish bog oak, carved with dragons and saints, and a font a few hundred years older still with an inscription that translates as ‘Menhir made me in the time of Genillin’, a phrase that conjures Tolkien’s Middle-earth. A fresco depicting Death or Time is said to re-emerge spookily after every attempt to whitewash over it.
See more of Secret Britain
The secret life of hedgehogs
With the hedgehog stirring from its winter slumber, David Profumo takes a closer look at the secret life of the
Burrow Mump, Somerset: Alfred the Great's lookout point
The famed hill in Burrowbridge is today's Secret Britain spot.
-
From California to Cornwall: How surfing became a cornerstone of Cornish cultureA new exhibition at Cornwall's National Maritime Museum celebrates a century of surf culture and reveals how the country became a global leader in surf innovation and conservation.
-
18 magnificent homes for sale from £550k to £20 million, as seen in Country LifeFrom a charming thatched cottage to a 300-acre estate with its own vineyard, here's our pick of places to come to the market via Country Life of late.
-
St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, Heysham: The mythical Lancashire ruins with a heavenly viewAnnunciata Elwes takes a look at St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, a Morecambe Bay landmark.
-
Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
-
Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
-
Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
-
Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
-
John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
-
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability BrownSurrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
-
The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
