According to her hagiography, she was originally an Irish princess who fled an arranged marriage and became a consecrated virgin in the wilderness of the Kingdom of Powys.

She supernaturally protected a hare from a prince's hunting dogs, and was granted land to found a sanctuary and convent.

[4] Jane Cartwright, a professor at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, draws a parallel between Melangell's hagiography and Welsh apocryphal legends about Mary Magdalene; both having become penitents deep in the woods and not seeing men for many years.

She lived in the wilderness of Powys as a consecrated virgin for fifteen years before being discovered by a prince by the name of Brochwel Ysgithrog.

After hearing Melangell's story, Brochwel donated the land to her, granting perpetual asylum to both the people and animals of the area.

After Melangell's death, someone by the name of Elise attempted to attack the virgins, but "came to an end most wretchedly and perished suddenly.

At the east end of the church, behind the chancel, is a small chamber known as the cell-y-bedd (cell of the grave), which housed the original shrine.

[15] The ornate Romanesque carving on the shrine, now located in the chancel, is characteristic of local work of the late 12th century.