St Govan's Chapel

St Govan's Chapel is a chapel located at St Govan's Head, Pembrokeshire in south west Wales.

Built into the side of a limestone cliff, the building measures 20 by 12 feet (6.1 m × 3.7 m) with walls constructed from limestone, and consists of two chambers, one in the front and one in the back.[2] The majority of the chapel was built in the thirteenth century, although parts of it may date back further to the sixth century when Saint Govan, a monk moved into a cave located on the site of the chapel. One legend suggests that Saint Govan is buried underneath the chapel's altar, located at the east end of the building.[3] The entrance to the building is via a doorway on the north side, low stone benches run along the north and south walls and an empty bell-cote is located at the west end.[4] The slate roof is suspected to be a modern addition compared to the rest of the building.[4]

The building is accessible from the clifftop by climbing down a set of 52 steps,[5] although tourist organisations propagate the legend that when counted, the number of steps differs between going down and going back up.[6]

The building was listed with Grade I status on 8 February 1996. The chapel is within the Castlemartin Military Training Area and is sometimes inaccessible because of military activity.[7]

The chapel was used as a location in episode 1 of the third series of the BBC drama His Dark Materials.