Collen
Collen was the patron of Llangollen and is attested in a lively late medieval Life.
Feast Day: 21 May
The feast of Collen was held on 21 May, although sources also list it as 20 and 22 May.More information
Places
In addition to the church dedicated to Collen at Llangollen, it seems that either or both the parish church at Ruabon, and a nearby chapel at Dinhinlle Isaf, were also dedicated to Collen in the thirteenth century, although the parish church also seems to have a long history of being dedicated to Mary. A holy well was also located in the vicinity of Llangollen.Churches at St Colan in Cornwall and Langolen in Finistere are suggestive of dedications to the same saint, the former being attested in the thirteenth century.
 | Church Dedication |  | Well |  | Placename |  | Landscape feature |  | Modern |  | Text |
1. Church of St Collen, Dinhinlle Isaf , Denbighshire (Dedication)
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2. Church of St Collen, Llangollen , Denbighshire (Dedication)
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3. Church of St Mary, Ruabon , Denbighshire (Dedication)
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4. St Collen's Well, Llangollen , Denbighshire (Well)
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5. Llangollen, Llangollen , Denbighshire (Placename)
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Further reading
S. Baring-Gould and John Fisher The Lives of the British Saints (London: Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1908), 157–61 View online
S. Baring-Gould and John Fisher The Lives of the British Saints (London: Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1913), 375–8 View online
David Farmer The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 96
Elissa Henken Traditions of the Welsh Saints (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1987), 221–6, 332–3
Images
A recumbent figure of an ecclesiastic was thought to have represented Collen, although the figure, and the old church to the west of the present church at Llangollen, no longer survive. A twentieth-century figure in stained glass is found in a window in the south wall of the tower.A.W. Wade-Evans claims that 'Llangollen appears to have been the mother church of Wrexham, Ruabon, Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog, and Llandegla', and Collen is found among the six Welsh saints made for the restored chancel apse of the Church of St Giles, Wrexham, in 1914. He holds a bunch of lilies, which were given to him by the pope, according to the Life. They had withered but then flowered, as a proof of the Virgin Birth.
View images of Collen on the Stained Glass in Wales website
