Kyffin's Spiritual Home

While Sir Kyffin lived in various locations throughout his life, this specific parish represented the historical roots of his family and remained a constant presence in his personal identity and artistic output.

The connection was primarily forged through a long lineage of ecclesiastical service. His great-grandfather, the Reverend James Williams, served as the Rector of St Mary’s Church in the nineteenth century. 

The village was the site of significant family history; it was from this base that his ancestors founded the first lifeboat service on Anglesey at nearby Cemlyn Bay, a legacy of service and community that Sir Kyffin held in high regard. This sense of belonging to the land was not merely sentimental but was built into the very stones of the village and its church.

Artistically, the rugged, windswept beauty of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy provided endless inspiration for his work. He frequently returned to the area to capture its unique light and topography. Through his art, he immortalised the quiet, enduring character of the village, viewing it with a sensitivity that only someone with deep familial ties could possess.

In his final years, Sir Kyffin made it clear that he wished to return to Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy permanently. Eschewing the prospect of a grand state funeral, he requested a simple burial in the churchyard of St Mary’s. He rests there today beneath a headstone of native slate, placed near the memorials he commissioned for his ancestors. 

His relationship with the village thus came full circle, moving from a childhood shaped by family stories to a lifetime of artistic observation, and finally to a quiet rest in the earth that had defined so much of his life’s work.